Wolverines 38, Fighting Irish 0

After the past two incredibly depressing Saturday losses, it was great to finally go to the Big House and enjoy a blowout victory over Notre Dame, 38-0. Admittedly, it was against a Notre Dame squad that has more issues than even UM. Still, it was a fun game to watch as a UM student.

Photo taken by my roommate

Mike Hart rushed 187 yards in 35 carries after guaranteeing last week that the Wolverines would win today’s game. Two of those carries resulted in touchdowns. As usual, Hart was out there playing as the leader he is as well as the heart and soul of the team.

“I knew I was going to perform because you can’t say something like that and not perform,” Hart said. “Especially with Chad [Henne] going down, it was more on my shoulders. I accept it. I love it, and I’m going to keep doing what I have to do to help the team win.”

Hart was not willing, however, to make another guarantee.

“Never again,” he said. “That was a one-time thing.”

True freshman quarterback Ryan Mallet made his first collegiate start after senior Chad Henne suffered a knee injury in last week’s game. With a strong running game and an early lead, the pressure was off of Mallet who completed 7 passes and threw 3 touchdowns (and no interceptions). While he did throw 8 incomplete passes, it was a good game for him to start to help build his confidence without the pressure of a close game. He has a lot to learn, but I can’t say it was a bad first game.

It certainly made UM’s job easier when Notre Dame fumbled five times (but recovered three of those) and threw two interceptions.

ASU 34, Michigan 32

I’ve had 24 hours to think about this game and I’m still pretty upset by it, but I can at least think a bit more clearly than I could yesterday afternoon. Let me begin by congratulating the Appalachian State team. They played very well and clearly deserved yesterday’s win. Unfortunately, the Wolverines made so many bad plays when they had numerous chances to redeem themselves and pull ahead that it’s hard not to get angry over the loss.

I, for once, pretty much agreed with the Detroit News’ columnist Bob Wojnowski in his column today about the loss.

This was sweet justice for Appalachian State, which got exactly what it deserved Saturday, a 34-32 victory. This was bitter justice for U-M, which got exactly what it deserved, the most thorough humiliation in the program’s long history. …

Appalachian State had more time of possession and was better on third-down conversions. The Wolverines had two field-goal attempts blocked and botched a pair of two-point conversions. Carr should not have gone for the first one — with U-M trailing 31-26 late in the third quarter — and that compounded his need to go for the second one.

Admittedly, ASU played great. No one is denying that. But UM had plenty of opportunities that they just completely botched. I still don’t understand why they went for a two point conversion in the third. There was still plenty of time and they really needed that extra point.

Then they get not one, but two fricking field goal attempts blocked by ASU. Two! Since I was in the stands (row 53), I don’t have the benefit of seeing it up close or even watching a replay (and I still can’t muster the courage to watch ESPN’s Sportscenter) so I can’t tell you exactly where it went wrong but they should definitely have scored at least one of their two attemps. Seriously.

Numerous times, we saw a UM player drop the punt or kickoff return (they were always able to recover it), but shouldn’t special teams players be able to catch the fricking ball? I’m not expecting big yardage for a return, but to drop the ball multiple times? What the crap was that?

QB Chad Henne was a Heisman candidate. Well, he lost that sucker in the first game. Henne did not play like he was a senior returning for his fourth year as QB. He completed only 19 of his 37 throwing attempts including an interception when he was under pressure (why didn’t he just throw that ball away?).

During the game, I wondered why we didn’t see more of running back Mike Hart, who was clearly pulling his weight and playing well. According to the Associated Press, Hart suffered a thigh injury and that is why he went almost two quarters without a carry. Great, our one ray of hope has an injury.

I also have to completely agree with the following three paragraphs written by ESPN.com writer Pat Forde:

For a program trying to rinse the taste out of its mouth from a third straight 0-2 finish, this was an unmitigated disaster. The only thing that could make Michigan fans even begin to forgive and forget would be a Big Ten title, complete with a defeat of Ohio State along the way.

How many people right now want to put money on the Wolverines doing that? After this game, they’ll be fortunate to get out of September (Oregon, Notre Dame, Penn State, at Northwestern) with a winning record.

(Side note: Has any matchup ever lost more luster in one day than the Sept. 15 Notre Dame-Michigan game? The Fighting Irish couldn’t score a touchdown at home while losing by 30 to an unranked opponent. The Wolverines couldn’t stop Appalachian State from scoring. National media members everywhere are canceling hotel rooms in Ann Arbor as we speak.)

This season was lost before it ever really began. The best we can do is win the rest of our games to try to regain our dignity and possibly a Big Ten Championship. The more likely option is that we’ll lose a game or two or three and we could lose out on the Rose Bowl or another big name bowl game.

Yesterday’s game was a hard pill to swallow. As I mentioned in the previous post, the Big House was incredibly silent as fans and spectators excited the stadium. As I walked to 25 minutes to my apartment, I only heard people quietly talking to one another. Other groups didn’t say anything and just slowly trudged home. It was bad. Between my knee killing, my face and neck turning bright red from sunburn (despite wearing SPF 50), and the loss, yesterday was definitely not one of my better days.

UM students typically really enjoy the first game. It’s a lot of students first weekend back on campus (or first weekend ever on campus) and it’s a time for partying, tailgating, and celebration. Instead, students were treated to an incredibly disappointing and frustrating loss to a I-AA team who clearly outplayed the Wolverines. After victorious games, you will hear students chanting in the streets of downtown Ann Arbor, “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine!” Yesterday, all we heard was silence. Except for the occasional guy who’d yell out, “At least we can drink our sorrows away tonight!”

I’m not a bandwagon football fan and have cheered for the Wolverines and Detroit Lions since I was a little girl. I will still watch my Wolverines play next week against Oregon at the Big House and I’ll still yell and cheer. But the hopes for this season have been trampled upon and my confidence in the team has been lost.

I’m stunned speechless

As a University of Michigan student, I was in attendance to watch firsthand the Wolverines’ season hopes blow up. UM lost to I-AA school, Appalachian State, 34-32. While I was definitely angrier over Lilja’s poor play in the second to last game of the Wings’ postseason, I am more upset over this loss. This was supposed to be our season with QB Chad Henne and RB Mike Hart graduating after this season. Well if the Wolverines are still ranked on Monday, I’ll be shocked.

I will post some photos and talk about the game later today once the shock and disappointment starts to wear off. I will have you know that Ann Arbor was incredibly quiet after the football game. I have never ever heard it that silent even after other losses. This one was bad and I’m not really in the mood to talk about the game just yet.

Until then, check out these other links…

Associated Press game recap
AOL’s FanHouse’s take on the game

Update: I’m still too pissed off about the game to talk about it today. I’ll write about it sometime tomorrow afternoon. Instead, I wrote about Lions running back Kevin Jones actually being taken off the PUP list and Nicklas Lidstrom driving a pace car at the Belle Island Grand Prix.

Interview with 5 veteran coaches

Over the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to interview five veteran coaches for the Michigan Hockey Coach’s Guide that comes out tomorrow. I talked to Red Berenson (UM head coach) in person at his office. I conducted phone interviews with Rick Comley (MSU head coach), Bob Daniels (Ferris State head coach), and Jeff Jackson (Notre Dame head coach). I also did an email interview with Plymouth Whalers’ head coach Mike Vellucci.

I asked each coach the same five questions. You can read their answers in entirety at Michigan Hockey’s website or by clicking read more below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Johnson to sign with LA

As I said yesterday, Jack Johnson was going to leave college hockey and sign with LA.

Not only will the Wolverines lose seven seniors due to graduation, but Iâ€™ve heard from a close friend of his that Jack Johnson will be heading to LA now and could be there by March 27th.

Johnson is currently in LA negotiating the bonuses to his contract and will play on Tuesday for the Kings who have six remaining games. His dad told the Michigan Daily that Johnson will return to take classes in the spring term and has promised Wolverines’ head coach Red Berenson that he’ll get his degree from UM. Apparently, JJ had told Berenson of his decision a week ago.

“I thought I was ready for a new challenge,” Johnson said. “With all my close friends, the seniors, gone now and everything, I thought it was time for me to pretty much go for a new challenge.”

…

“I have no regrets about coming here, being a Wolverine,” Johnson said. “I’m still proud as hell to be one.”

James Mirtle has commented on the immediate impact Johnson will have for the Kings.

Johnson’s the early favourite for the Calder Trophy in 2008, regardless of where the Kings sit in the standings. He’s just a terrific player â€” one of the best young defencemen to join the league in years â€” and should make an immediate impact over the Kings’ final six games of the regular season.

Scout.com nicely summarizes his career as a Michigan Wolverine:

In his two seasons at Michigan, Johnson rewrote the record book for a Michigan blue liner. In his inaugural campaign under the winged helmet, Johnson tallied a stat line of 10-22-32 with a +11 rating.

His 16 goals as a sophomore set a new Michigan sophomore record, and, despite only using two years of eligibility, Johnson sits in 8th place on the Michigan defensemen goals list, just 14 goals behind Steve Richmondâ€™s Michigan record.

Along with his 16 goals in 2006-07, Johnson also set a new career high in assists (23) and points (39), all the while more than doubling his plus/minus rating to +26 in his final season in Ann Arbor.

As a result of his efforts, Johnson was rewarded with the CCHA’s 2007 Offensive Defenseman of the Year Award as well as being named to the All-CCHA team as the conferences leading vote getter.

As a UM student, I am sad to see JJ go but I will definitely watch his progress in the NHL and try to attend some Wings-Kings games for sure. This clip is in honor of JMFJ.

UM out of NCAA tourney

Source: Ryan McKee / NCAA Photos

The University of Michigan Wolverines’ hockey team lost to North Dakota in its first game of the NCAA tournament, 8-5. UND will face Minnesota in the West Regional final.

Twice the Wolverines had a lead of two goals, but they were unable to hang on as time winded down at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Not only will the Wolverines lose seven seniors due to graduation, but I’ve heard from a close friend of his that Jack Johnson will be heading to LA now and could be there by March 27th.

Other NCAA tournament updates: Michigan State beat No. 1 ranked Notre Dame, 2-1, to advance to the Frozen Four. MSU is the first CCHA team since 2003 to make it to the Frozen Four. Wings’ prospect Justin Abdelkader notched an assist for MSU in the third period against the Fighting Irish.

But this really hurts.

My beloved Michigan Wolverines let me down in a big way this evening. USC pretty much rocked their world ending the game with a score of 32-18. USC even got their backup quarterback in on the action towards the end of the game. It should definitely be reason for all Michigan fans to finally agree that Florida deserved to be in the National Championship, but I can only hope OSU kicks some Gator butt on January 8th.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful ceremony to attend tomorrow at Joe Louis Arena and hopefully that will help ease the agony of being a Wolverines’ fan (we’ve lost 3 straight to OSU and 4 straight bowl games).

Pissed off at BCS

After spending my day studying organic chemistry (which I despise with every fiber of my being), I learn that Florida will be heading to Glendale for the National Championship to take on OSU instead of my Wolverines. And yes, this post is going to be a nice long rant because I’m pissed off.

I hate the BCS. It’s ridiculous. Michigan is the better of the two teams and we are heading to the Rose Bowl to take on USC (more on that later). I have no problem if the voters for the various polls placed Florida ahead of Michigan, but when you see these results (courtesy of Michigan Sports Center), it’s easy to understand why I’m upset with the system:

Paul Zeise:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Louisville
No. 3: Florida
No. 4: Michigan

Larry Keech:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Boise State
No. 3: Michigan
No. 4: Wisconsin
No. 5: Florida

Robert Lawless:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Michigan
No. 3: Wisconsin
No. 4: Louisville
No. 5: Florida

Ray Melick:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Florida
No. 3: Louisville
No. 4: Michigan

Tim Neverett:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Florida
No. 3: USC
No. 4: Michigan

Gene Ponti:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Florida
No. 3: LSU
No. 4: Michigan

Jim Walden:
No. 1: Florida
No. 2: Ohio State
No. 3: Michigan

A few remarks from these results:
1) I know Boise State went undefeated, but you gotta be fricking kidding me. They are not a better team than Michigan and Florida.
2) Why are people voting for Wisconsin and Louisville over Florida and/or Michigan?
3) How in the heck do you place USC over Michigan? USC lost TWICE to unranked opponents while Michigan lost by a mere 3 points to OSU in COLUMBUS!!!!!!
4) OSU is the best team in the country right now. They’re the only undefeated team who has faced quality opponents. How do you place Florida above OSU?

This system can’t and doesn’t work when idiots like those above can vote for crap like that. Yes, I want UM to go to Glendale, but if people voted (1) OSU, (2) Florida, and (3) Michigan. Fine. But when they vote for ridiculous things as seen above, it’s time to find a new format.

MGoBlog has a good post refuting all the stupid “reasons” for why Michigan doesn’t deserve to be in the championship. Like I said, if you believe Florida is the better team I have no problem - that’s an actual reason. But these aren’t:

Michigan didn’t win its conference.

Michigan had its chance.

Florida played a harder schedule.

Michigan has been idle for two weeks.

For once, I wholeheartedly agree with an ESPN columnist- shocker, I know.

There is no polite way of saying it: Michigan got jobbed. Sunday’s rankings are Exhibits A-Z why the BCS means well, but simply doesn’t work — and never will.

…

How can you call this a “system” when Florida belongs to a league that plays a conference championship, and Michigan doesn’t? How can you call it a quasi-playoff when Michigan drops twice in the standings without losing a game.

…

Michigan never had that chance. It was 11-1 on Nov. 18. It was 11-1 on Dec. 3. But between then and now the Wolverines apparently became the cellulite queens and somehow lost the swimsuit portion of this ridiculous BCS beauty pageant.

Michigan didn’t do a thing wrong. And yet Carr was the one who had to console his team Sunday night. He did it, but here’s guessing he wasn’t Mr. Congeniality.

And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope OSU destroys the crap outta Florida.

And finally, I don’t really understand how USC gets to play in the Rose Bowl. I mean, I know they won their conference but they lost twice to an unranked opponent. In my humble opinion, they don’t deserve the Rose Bowl. I would much rather see LSU there who had a great season. But that’s just me…

11/22 Notes

I’m typing this as my dad is driving my family down to South Carolina (we’re currently somewhere in upper Tennessee) so this won’t be incredibly in depth and as I mentioned in my last post- there will be no reactions to tonight’s game or Friday’s and possibly even Saturday’s as I will not be able to watch these games at my grandparents house.

- George has a nice post up at Kukla’s Korner about some improvements the Detroit Red Wings organization has made (a little more reaching out to charities and a new LED screen for example), but talks about changes they still need to make.

- The U of M hockey team defeated MSU last night, 2-1, in Ann Arbor.

- If you live in the Detroit area, come to the Plymouth Whalers game on December 8th! The Stanley Cup will be on display from 6-10pm. The game against Sudbury starts at 7:05pm and gates open at 5:45pm. As usual, I will be working the game and I hope I get a chance to check out the Cup before the gates open because I’ve never gotten a photo taken with it or been able to touch it. I’ve had a photo opportunity with both the NBA and WNBA trophies at the same time when the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Shock had them the same summer. So make sure you get your tickets today before they sell out! OHL hockey is a lot of fun to watch and you see plenty of fighting (unlike the NHL). I think it was last Friday’s game where there were at least 4 separate fights - always fun for the whole family!

Wings injury updates
- Niklas Kronwall will not play tonight due to the groin injury that has been bothering him for awhile.

“A little frustrated,” he said. “I felt really good yesterday, and then today I had a little setback from the skating yesterday. They don’t want to take any chances.”

I actually got to pick up my autographed 8×10 signed photo of Kronwall yesterday at The Goalies’ Den in Troy. My photo says: “Christy, Good luck with your knee! Niklas Kronwall 55″

- Chris Osgood will be out for at least 3-4 weeks due to a fractured wrist. And the Red Wings have developed a plan to keep Hasek healthy while his backup is out:

The Red Wings have come up with a plan to protect goaltender Dominik Hasek when he has to serve as backup.

If Joey MacDonald, who likely will play Friday against St. Louis, needs to be pulled, it will only be during an intermission. That way, Hasek still has time to get warmed up before playing.

MacDonald could be called upon steadily while Chris Osgood recovers from a broken bone in his left hand, estimated to take three to four weeks. Osgood said Tuesday he would wear a cast for a week and then get re-examined. While he won’t be able to face shots for a while, he skated Tuesday and plans to do so every day.

- Did you know Jiri Hudler is living with fellow country-mate Robert Lang? Lang jokingly refers to Hudler as his third son.

- I just got done reading the Red Wings Essential, which was basically a book with anecdotes and random trivia about the Red Wings from 1926 through 2006. It was a quick read and I definitely learned some random stuff like Ted Lindsay has had over 300 stitches, which is why they call him Scarface. I don’t think it was worth the $20 for the hardcover, but a cheaper paperback version would be worthwhile. Scratch that, you can buy a new one on Amazon for $14 - I got screwed at Barnes and Nobles. And yes, if there is a Red Wings book I usually buy it - I’m a sucker for hockey books. I bought a couple more for this Thanksgiving break so I’ll let you know how they go - one is called The Code, which is about the rules of fighting, and the other is Brodeur’s autobiography, but I won’t have that done for awhile because I accidently left it in my dorm…

- Oh, I had made a Gift Guide for a Hockey Fan last year and I’ll try to finish one this break for you guys. It was a popular search keyword so I know there’s a desire out there for it. I specifically cater to the Red Wings fans.

Random: The new Chris Daughtry CD is excellent. I highly suggest buying it. It’s on repeat on my iPod right now. It’s alternative at times and then rock at other times - solid music.

Michigan loses to OSU

Michigan lost. 42-39. I missed the second half because I was working the Whalers’ game. The Whalers lost. It’s safe to say it hasn’t been an amazing day.

Rose Bowl? Rematch in Glendale? Who knows.

There will be a memorial service for Bo Schembechler at Michigan Stadium on Tuesday at 1pm open to the public. Just bummed that we couldn’t win for Bo.

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