Reaction

I have honestly read or watched nothing concerning the overwhelmingly shocking loss to Appalachian State on Saturday...

...until tonight.

Oh my...oh my.

First of all, my reaction from being at the game on Saturday was total shock. And not just shock that Appalachian State was so good...but that Michigan was so bad. It hit me at halftime. After watching ASU score 3 unanswered touchdowns in the 2nd quarter, my head was about yo explode. My wife and I stepped out of the stadium with about 3 minutes to go in the half to get some air and try to make some sense of what we just saw. But there was no other way to explain it...Michigan was simply out-coached, out-played, and out-everything. It was then that I realized that we could actually lose this game.

What I saw that I liked was a renewed sense of motivation in the 3rd quarter. They totally shut down ASU's very, very fast spread offense. But thats about it.

Michigan was way unprepared and way too over confident.

My reaction to the reaction I have been reading from Michigan fans is both expected and knee-jerking.

Lloyd Carr is not the one to blame. Seriously. Sure, he is the head coach, but he's not on the field. The adjustments were made at halftime, and I think the coaches did a good job giving Michigan the best chance possible to win the game.

The fault lies squarely on the shoulders of the offensive line and Chad Henne. I can not see how any ASU player could have gotten into the backfield to make Henne scramble. Or, to tackle Mike Hart as soon as he gets the hand off. The combination of poor blocking, and Henne making passes that he should have completed his freshman year will forever be the main reason why Michigan fell two points short on September 1, 2007.

Lloyd Carr, Mike DeBord, Ron English and Bill Martin were not on the field Saturday. Period.

As a former player, I can tell you that there are simply some games that you know you will win. And for whatever reason, you never think that you could lose. Not one Michigan fan can tell me that they thought for a second that Appalachian State could hang with us. As a player, its the same feeling. You're over-confident, and a coach isn't going to scare you with a Div. 1AA team saying that they are fast. You just played USC and Ohio State...you know what fast is.

This game was lost in the heads of the Michigan players long before the kickoff. Appalachian State was not a better team...but someone forgot to tell them that.

But, the game is over. Hopefully the lessons have been learned. Oregon is next. I'd hate to be them.