The Ohio State Game

Losing to OSU was the worst way to end the regular season. All the fans, including myself had high expectations for Michigan in this game, but they just got outperformed. Check it out.

A couple of reflections on this season:

-Chad Henne has a chance to be a GREAT quarterback. He already has as many 4th quarter comebacks as Tom Brady did over an entire career. He also has the strongest arm of any modern Michigan QB except Drew Henson. He gets overshadowed by Hart sometimes, but I think that is more a reflection of the media than of their performances; Hart is amazing, but Henne pulled off the Minnesota comeback all on his own, and the final overtimes of the Michigan State game Hart was hurt, and Henne took over the game (after Braylon saved them). Most of the media has overlooked the fact that Henne just put together the best season by a true freshman QB since PEYTON MANNING. If he stays healthy, he has a chance to be the #1 pick in the NFL draft.

What could have been....

-While I love the way Henne played this year, one can't help but wonder, "What if Gutierrez had been healthy?" Most people I talk to will say it's impossible for an experienced QB to do any better than Henne, but I tend to think Gutierrez was all we needed to go undefeated. Am I crazy? No. So why do I think an unproven, redshirt sophomore QB could lead his team to a national championship? Because that exact feat was just accomplished last season, by a guy named Matt Leinart. And not only has Gutierrez never lost a game, he actually beat Leinart the three times their teams played in high school! I will leave it at that; one of my future posts will have to address Gooty: The Man and The Legend.

-Fire Jim Herrmann.

-Marlin Jackson had a chance at the beginning of the year to enter the pantheon of Michigan cornerbacks, a la Woodson and Law. It's the end of the year now, but the only pantheon he ended up in is the idiots that underachieved. Most unknowledgeable Marlin loyalists defend the big plays he gives up by saying teams hardly ever throw at him, so he's bound to give up some. But those people are just unwilling to see the light; the only reason teams don't throw at Marlin more is because they have Markus Curry to throw at on the other side. Curry is deserving of a whole other column; dumb as a doornail, only has one move in coverage (tackle the receiver and pick up an interference penalty). Curry should just start each play turned around and bent over to save other teams the trouble. Anyway back to Marlin. Huge disappointment. The football team's company line last year was that "we moved Marlin to safety because he is a team player willing to do whatever we ask of him." Let me give you a translation, "we realize Marlin is too slow to cover effectively, and the only time he can be effective is when he is more physical than the receiver, but we can hide his inabilities by putting him at safety, where we once played Julius Curry." Yes, same family as Markus Curry. The only more depressing fraternal pair in recent memory is the Menendez brothers.
So Marlin moved to safety last year, and back this year. He somehow had this aura about him that he could be like Ty Law. Dead wrong. Marlin created that image in one game and has lived off of it the rest of his career; he shut down Reggie Williams in the Washington game beginning of 2002, and fans were ready to anoint him the Pope. Even I thought highly of him for the next several games; but then Penn State came along, and while Michigan beat them, Bryant Johnson had turned Marlin into his personal rag doll, and it was the beginning of the end. And Santonio Holmes, in the OSU game this year, made it even more painfully evident that Marlin will NEVER be a great cornerback: the touchdown catch, turning Marlin around like a jewish boy playing with his dradel, says it all about #3: he is a good physical player, but does not have good speed, will get torched by speed receivers, and only cares about trying to make big hits. I would say I'm glad to see him gone, but Michigan was unable to recruit Justin King, so the secondary could be poor again.
Also, let's not forget, Marlin is fairly sketchy as a person as well. He beat another person over the head with a glass bottle. That makes him just a bigger version of James Whitley, who was a big fan of threatening people with guns.

-Overall a great season with the freshmen backfield. No one can blame them for either of the losses. Blame Jim Herrmann. Fire him. Send out a witch hunt for him. He has less brains than hair. And I hope he somehow reads this. Actually I hope he has it read to him, because he is to *^%&$ dumb to use a computer and/or read. Him and Mike Gittleson, the team strength trainer. If you want real strength training, take a look at what the Miami Hurricanes and Andreu Swasey have been up to; that's what Michigan needs. Honestly, Michigan football can only gain from the elimination of Herrmann and Mike "I'm an awful strength coach who went to PLYMOUTH STATE. I can't be trusted to train our players. I can't even teach any classes competently. I'm from Plymouth Freaking State. You can't even trust me to empty your garbage cans. I just have a job because i keep working the Vietnam Vet angle" Gittleson? Somebody should just put those two in a room and give them a copy of Hop on Pop. Either they try to climb each other and end up hurting themselves too much to coach again, or we've bought about 25 years of dumbass-free coaching until they're done reading.