FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Uncle Rico]

Player of game was Jerod Barton with 22 carries 146 yards.  Extra point blocked.  Alma stopped twice with 4th and goal.  263 yards rushing for Trine.  Alma ran for 56.  Biller did not play due to injury.  Hargraves 10-14 for 75 yards and no INT's.  O line gave up only one sack.  Coyle and Benner gave high praise for the O line.  No sacks by the Thunder but forced 4 turnovers. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

VERY disappointing outcome in East Lansing.  The zebras had already stolen the game (the fumble that wasn't and the ridiculous spot that prevented 1st and goal) before Denard threw it away.

What shocked me was what a dirty team MSU was - 5 or 6 personal fouls, including one where the rules say Gholston should have been ejected (threw a punch; Gholston also had a late hit on Denard after which he grabbed his facemask and twisted his helmet completely around), and another PF that knocked Denard out of the game.  Altogether, 13 penalties for 124 yards!

I'll now shut up until MIAA game discussion subsides!

[sflzman]

STREAK IS OVER! OLIVET WINS!

[sac]

Trine 26, Alma 0
Albion 12, Hope 3
Olivet 14, Kalamazoo 10

No word on Adrian, but with this wind......it was probably a tie.

[sac]

VERY disappointing outcome in East Lansing.  The zebras had already stolen the game (the fumble that wasn't and the ridiculous spot that prevented 1st and goal) before Denard threw it away.

no offense chuck but come on man.

[Mr. Ypsi]

VERY disappointing outcome in East Lansing.  The zebras had already stolen the game (the fumble that wasn't and the ridiculous spot that prevented 1st and goal) before Denard threw it away.

no offense chuck but come on man.

I'm not saying Michigan played well enough to deserve a win, but those two plays just might have cost them any chance.  Cousins clearly threw BACK to a player who dropped the ball - a lateral and a fumble, NOT the incomplete pass the refs called it.  But since a ref blew his whistle before Michigan picked up the ball, the play stood as called.  MSU scored on that possession.  With 6+ minutes remaining, UM completed a pass which was CLEARLY a first down (by at least a yard, before the receiver was pushed back), but the ball was spotted a yard short.  Instead of 1st and goal at the 7, it was 4th and 1 at the 9.  The Wolverines certainly did themselves no favors with a 4th down call that had little chance, but it should not have been 4th down in the first place.  Had those two calls been made correctly, Michigan probably would have been running the ball to run out the clock, instead of Denard making his horribly ill-advised pick-six that iced the loss.

My use of the word 'stolen' was typed in the heat of the moment, not an attempt to allege evil intent - just gross incompetence.

[ForeverFootball]

Whew, I was worried but after today, Adrian remains undefeated !   

[ThunderHead]

East Lansing was ROCKING. I'll have more later.

But Mr. Ypsi - common boss, you're smarter then that. The only people that should be complaining about bad officials was Northwestern after the game officials did everything but give Brady Hoke a flag last week.

While the officiating was suspect Saturday, it was bad both ways. There were plenty of calls the officials missed that favored Michigan, including one that should have brought back Denards TD. To assume that Michigan's offense was gonna score on the MSU defense, let alone get to a point where they could ever ice the game, just isn't logical IMO.  MSU simply took Michigan out to the wood shed, and well, beat them like one would a little brother...

Cousins was 13/24 for 2 TDs which should have been along the lines of 20/24 with 3 TDs with all the dropped passes.OH and how about that MSU secondary. 

[Raider 68]

East Lansing was ROCKING. I'll have more later.

But Mr. Ypsi - common boss, you're smarter then that. The only people that should be complaining about bad officials was Northwestern after the game officials did everything but give Brady Hoke a flag last week.

While the officiating was suspect Saturday, it was bad both ways. There were plenty of calls the officials missed that favored Michigan, including one that should have brought back Denards TD. BUT, MSU simply took Michigan to the shed, and well, beat them like one would a little brother...

OH and how about that MSU secondary. 

Thunderhead,

While I am a Buckeye, I followed MSU when we lived in Kalamazoo/Portage. I still support the Buckeyes first (D1), but have nice memories of visits to MSU. Good for the Spartans, sorry formerd3db!

[formerd3db]

A very long and emontional day in many ways for me (and I'm sure many of you).  Well, Hope did not deserve to win and simply played horribly.  By the time I arrived at the game, one of my former defensive backfield teammates informed me that we had made no first downs.  Only had about 2 by mid-second quarter as I recall without looking at the box score right now.  Horribly poor tackling with missed tackles/arm tackles (just like Michigan did today ), poor passing, poor receiving and poor blocking.  Defense did fairly well and stopped some Albion drives, although their big offensive line essentially blew some big holes all day through us for running - only aspect is they like to lay on people after a play and they hold, hold, hold . Luckily, the refs called most of those. Albion is a decent team, not great, although, again, deserved to win this game.  Their kicker had a terrible game.  Had Hope played better like they have in their recent wins, they may have beaten Albion.  The weather was actually better than it was in EL I'm told - sunny, with some nice white clouds and a slight breeze - unlike the wind blasts in EL.  A very nice Homecoming crowd (I'll report the total later once I've had a chance to check on that i.e. when it is posted), yet obviously, a very disappointed home crowd.  Albion did not have as many fans there as I would have thought - mostly parents of players as no doubt many of their other fans were at U of Mich/MSU.  Not impressed with their coaching staff from some behavior witnessed today I have to say, but I will refrain from discussing any of that here.

Great win for Olivet.  I'm sure they feel a huge weight lifted off them.  However, Kazoo and company must feel a bit devastated after two losses in a row.

Alma's Homecoming was spoiled also by Trine as you others have mentioned.

TH:
Yes, we'll have to disagree.  I, too, do not believe in giving up on a kid, however, I agree with UR in that there is a difference between enabling and grace; also again, it doesn't matter regarding someone's background period after they make the same poor judgement/mistake BY CHOICE after being given more than one chance.  Accountability is what is lacking in today's society and there is absolutely a way to help some kid get "ahead in life" while doing that.  BTW, just as an brief FYI, I don't have a son; however, have had the experiences you are discussing when I was coaching in college (and currently in teaching).  Anyway, also for DUIs, there is no leeway, period, nor should be.  So it doesn't matter if it is a player on the team or a student - zero tolerance if you do deliberately do it more than once .  As far as the Michigan game, you mentioned, Michigan State's secondary - they did get a ton of help from Robinson and Michigan's receivers, all of whom were simply terrible today.  As far as the refs, they did get at least one call right and that was the blatent personal foul on MSU's man right before the half - the one that Dantonio protested so vehemently, but was obviously the correct call without question.   Just ask Brandstatter and Beckman!   They saw the replay.  Also, the refs missed the out-of-bounds X3 on that play right before MSU's second touchdown where it was ruled on the 7.  Clearly out well before that.  However, all of this is mute points as Michigan played terrible and Michigan State arose to the occasion and had a well-deserved win. Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time there today and I'm sure it was a most festive and electric atmosphere.  Hope you enjoy your evening as well.  And...thank you for the condolences regarding the passing of my/our family friend and the prayers for her family - it is greatly appreciated.

Hopewatcher:
Thanks for the further inside info on the stadium situation at Hope/Holland - very informative for our colleagues here who don't know the full "behind the scenes" story.  Your take on today's game?

P.S.  No problem, Raider68, my friend!

[Uncle Rico]

I am not happy by the outcome, but not totally surprised.  Although I agree with Mr Ypsi in that they were big moments, I would rather focus on the fact that but just a couple key completions to wide open receivers would have been the key for me.  But Michigan didn't get it done. 

And THead, this game was a bit closer than what would qualify as a visit to the wood shed.  It is fun to use all sorts of colorful phrasing but I have told you a million times not to exagerate. 

[sac]

I'm not saying Michigan played well enough to deserve a win, but those two plays just might have cost them any chance.  Cousins clearly threw BACK to a player who dropped the ball - a lateral and a fumble, NOT the incomplete pass the refs called it.  But since a ref blew his whistle before Michigan picked up the ball, the play stood as called.  MSU scored on that possession. 

You make your own breaks on those plays chuck, as soon as the Michigan players pulled up it was essentially dead.......had they jumped on the ball immediately it was reviewable and would probably have been Michigan's ball.  That's coaching, and I'm sure it will be discussed Sunday or Monday.

I've watched the replay of the catch inside the 10 on 3rd down several times and am less sure it was spotted incorrectly.  For whatever reason the side judges had a pretty bad day spotting the ball.

[sac]

games where the home team fans are soiling themselves with 6 minutes left because the other team is inside the 20 with a chance to potentially tie is not a woodshed game.

Neither team could move the ball into the wind worth a damn.  The difference was MSU taking advantage of the wind and Michigan not.  I think most people would be surprised (and M fans disappointed) at the number of plays UM had on MSU's half of the field with so little production.  It came down to defense and running the ball.......Michigan could not run the ball, and couldn't stop it well enough, and that has been the (his)story of this rival for about 4 decades.

[ThunderHead]

UR - Respectfully disagree with exaggerating the beat down, BUT let me be clear I wasn't talking about the score per say. Michigan State POUNDED Michigan upfront. (physically dominated them-thus the wood shed) They controlled the LOS both offensively and defensively, and completely contained Denard Robinson. Yes Denard isn't a great passer, but everyone knew that, and yet that didn't stop the Heisman talk. (which was running rampant from Michigan fans before the game) I simply stated MSU had the advantage with their secondary against the UofM offense, you can spin it however you want, but that's exactly what happened. 

As for listening to Brandstatter and Beckman, you gotta be kidding me? These guys are two of the most classless conceded announcers in the Big Ten, just ask Jim Miller.  They both we're criticizing Coach D's recruiting class early on, which I found funny given the three year record.

Brandstatter: "This is what you need to know about Michigan State's class: its second-best guy would be Michigan's 18th, and this year is the first time in 40 years Michigan changed coaches. Meet the new boss, little brother."

Remember, this recruiting class contained Johnny Adams, Jerel Worthy, Tyler Hoover, Keyshawn Martin, and Trenton Robinson. Oh, by the way, this class has never lost to UM.

While they ranted on Dantonio in 2008 and 2009, and praised RichRod's first two recruiting classes, they based their opinion on the fact UM signed 46 recruits. Guess how many where rated at least four stars by Rivals? 33.

During those same two years, MSU signed 44 recruits. Guess how many were rated at least four stars by Rivals? 11.

It isn't about spin, sunshine blowing, demanding excellence or realism. Sure, losing a guy like Mario O hurts. But Coach D will get guys that can compete at a high level too.

The great mystery to me is that message board lunatics (not necessarily here)--on both sides--will cite Rivals analysts opinions like they are gospel, yet they are skeptical about Coach D's talent evaluations. Take a step back and think about that for a second. Who are these "analysts"?. These are guys that attend a couple of regional combines, watch hundreds of kids take a rep or two, have little coaching experience, have no accountability to any university and develop no real relationship with a kid.

Compare that to Coach D. A guy that has coached college football for two decades at many levels. He has been a defensive coordinator for a national championship team. He has won a BigTen title as a head coach. He has a 51-36 record as a head coach, and he is 20-12 in BigTen play.

With that in mind, pardon me for being excited Jim about any kid Coach D offers early in the process. Coach D has proven he knows what he is doing. And he isn't going to offer a kid if he doesn't think he can play. And he also isn't going to get every kid he offers.

RichRod was 3-0 versus Dantonio on NSD, but Dantonio was 3-0 against RichRod in the Fall. Unfortunately for RichRod and UM, NSD victories--to use a Dantonio phrase--don't count one. Careful not to fall into the same trap with Hoke. 


Michigan State is better coached (even despite the penalties) has better players, and is a better program. I don't see much changing any time soon. 

[sflzman]

Okay, speaking of bad officiating, but come on, FOUR Trine P.I. flags waved off because it was "uncatchable" Common Man! (I should be on Monday Night Countdown  )