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Can This Loss be Good for the Program? |
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Written by Jeff Hatline
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Monday, 03 September 2007 |
As I sit here this Labor Day Monday
morning, it's still technically the weekend and I'm still
trying to digest the Michigan loss from Saturday. It's supposed to be
nice today and I'd like to get on with the long weekend and finish it off on a
positive note. So, I'm going to lay this out right here and not think about it
again (until Saturday anyway).
First of all, anyone trying to convince themselves that this isn't the
biggest upset in college football history, you're wrong. It is. That's OK
though. Michigan football has been around for a long time and the program
holds a lot of records. What's one more? The positive thing to remember though
is that no matter how devastating this loss is, Michigan can recover, this
year. Sure they have to win every game the rest of the season. They have to
run up the score as much as possible on every opponent. They have to hope that
everyone else loses at least one game and that the BCS is forgiving enough to
allow them into the National Championship game. Hopefully, in that
Championship game, they draw a team like USC or Florida and beat them, bad. In
accomplishing this, everyone will forget Appalachian State. The problem is,
the team that was out there on Saturday didn't look like a team that can
accomplish all of this.
To those of you who say that Lloyd Carr needs to go, you're right. If you say
he needs to be fired, you're wrong. Michigan can't fire Lloyd,
they just can't. Michigan doesn't do that. Hopefully, he will announce
his retirement at the end of the season, but he shouldn't be fired now
(no matter how bad you want him to be.) Really, what is that going to
accomplish now? Firing him is essentially giving up on a savable season
(see above). Firing him doesn't give the guys on the roster reason to
vindicate their coach, and firing him goes against the highly respected
tradition of the school. Firing Lloyd isn't going to do anything for
program right now. But Lloyd, this doesn't mean you can't change a few things
in what is hopefully your final season.
Second, this loss could actually be good for the Michigan program. For
one, something like this is never going to happen again. Those "cupcake"
schools that are scheduled for the "pre-season" will never again be over
looked by a Michigan team. This team has learned their lesson and future
teams only need to watch the tape. Also, Lloyd no longer posses
the right to choose his successor. Sorry Lloyd, but given the last ten
years (and especially the last three) how do you expect us to be that
excited over whoever you're hand-picking to lead the program into the
2010s?
Bringing me to third and final point. Bringing in a new coach from outside the
program will give Michigan its most needed shot in the arm. To update the
friggin' playbook already. Look, Bo was perhaps the greatest coach to walk the
sideline at Michigan Stadium, but do we have to keep running his plays?
They worked in the 80s, but the game has changed in the last 20 years. Learn
how to defend against a spread offense and learn how stop a running
quarterback already. There's not a lot of them out there, but they're there
and they'll kill you if you give them the chance. You've had problems
since Donovan McNabb's Syracuse Orangemen beat you, IN 1998! Vince
Young beat you in the 2005 Rose Bowl and you go and schedule Appalachian State
to start the 2007 season. A team that features a running QB! Not smart.
Regardless, the loss to Appalachian State offers one glimmer of
hope to Michigan football fans, that change that we've been clamoring for
for years, might finally arrive.
Readers have left 2 comments. 1. Untitled
AM, Registered People had me pegged for a suicide watch after this game. Tsk, tsk... I knew after the Rose Bowl last year that with Carr coaching and Henne was the QB that '07 was gonna be a disappointment. I've been saying it all year, and it looks like a great year to not have bought tickets.
Thanks for saving me 350 bucks Lloyd!
Fire his ass, get a running quarterback, and shut everyone up. 2. Untitled
Jephro, Registered Michigan doesn't need a running QB, they just need to stop one. J! Reactions • General Site LicenseCopyright © 2006 S. A. DeCaro |
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