Michigan v Iowa

[Peake]

Michigan v Iowa

What I saw....
Michigan Defense---A defense that looked bad on the first drive then settled in the rest of the game. After the first drive I thought UM did a pretty darn good job. I don't know why mad43 is saying the old UM defense showed up, maybe he didn't actually watch the game, dunno. After the first score Michigan forced 3 straight 3 and outs and then the final 14 points came off of two straight turnovers, one on the Michigan 30 and the second on the Iowa 4 yard line. They didn't allow another score until 2 and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter. I wouldn't say UM defense reverted to old habits or they are bad or any of that. I thought they played very solid today and again gave their offense a shot to win in the end holding Iowa to a 3 and out before UM turned it over on downs.

Michigan Offense---Was the worst performance by Jr. Hemmingway I have seen all season long. The first 3 drives he had two first down catches that would have kept drives alive. Who knows what those drives would have produced. Both of the drops came on 3rd downs. I thought Toussaint did a very nice job running the ball, word is he has another shoulder problem. He goes out in the 3rd and really things went south in the running game after that. As much as I would like to see Devin, I just don't think he is ready. Wow he missed a wide open wideout when he came in for a series for Denard. I mean wide open right in front of him. Glad to see us hitting FG's again. On the final plays, it is what it is. I was more upset with the 4th down no pass int call then the non-td catch, and not to mention they missed a big one right before half that would have given UM the ball 1st and goal, but oh well.

What did I learn?
I told everyone coming in that Iowa is a tough place to play. They are now 5-0 at home. Michigan didn't play well and their D had to keep them in it AGAIN!

The Big Ten this year is pretty even across the board. I don't think there is a great team, but a bunch of average to above average teams. Notice that the favorite on the road is getting beat this year.
Wisconsin losses to OSU @OSU
Nebraska losses to Wisconsin @Wisconsin
Ohio State losses to Nebraska @Nebraska
Michigan State losse to Nebraska @Nebraska.
Both Michigan's losses come on the road to MSU and Iowa.

You better protect your home turf...period.

Is Michigan over rated? I wouldn't say that. I'd say they are average to slightly above average, just like the rest of the conference. I tried telling everyone they would have a tough time going into Iowa and winning. Notice all of Iowa's losses have come on the road, and the same Minny team nearly beat MSU.

Going forward...
Next week will be very tough to win, because it is on the road. I don't think it is as difficult as place to play as Iowa, but it will be a battle imo. I look for UM to split and beat Illinois, and then split the final two games at home. I will take 9-3 any day.

[Peake]

One more thing on the Defense.

The D this year has only given up over 30 once, and given up 20 or more twice.

They've had a total of 141 points scored on them in 9 games compared to 307 at this point last season.

You be the judge.

[91Buckeye]

peake, what really upset me was the play calls at the end of the game. You have arguably the best running quarterback in the nation and all 4 passes are dropback. At least once you have to give Denard a run/pass option, I expect better out of Borges.

[Peake]

I agree with aside from the fact that we had 0 timeouts with only 16 seconds left to play, not enough time to run it unless you do it on 4th down. On 4th they brought the house and UM was forced to throw.

[91Buckeye]

I understand what you're sayin peak but I'm not buyin the timeout thing. You call a sprint out and tell him to to run only if you know you can make it or throw it out of bounds if the receiver is covered. Again I expect better out of Borges.