All In for Delaware State

So, ok. We lost to Iowa. It was a tough one. We made some pretty lousy mistakes, but in many ways, we looked remarkably better than we did a week before at MSU. We ran the ball better...without Carlos Brown I might add. We defended the run better. We defended the pass better. We moved the ball when we weren't turning it over. All in all, I have to say that I am somewhat pleased with what I saw Saturday night. I also think many many teams would not have fared as well as we did in that hostile environment.

But I was also disappointed with some things I saw. Namely, 5 turnovers.

There's no excuse. You just can't turn the ball over like that without losing the game. Iowa is just too good for that.

So moving forward, all we can do is learn from those mistakes and beat the crap out of Delaware State.

Here's some of the headlines heading out of the Iowa game:

• Tate Forcier sustained what is being called a "minor" concussion on his last play of the Iowa game. But if anyone saw 60 Minutes last night, there really ain't such a thing as a minor blow to the brain. This is tough news for any Michigan fan to hear. We all remember how much Sam McGuffie was roughed up last year...we need to take better care of our QBs.

Tate will start this week, but expect to see a lot of Denard Robinson. And maybe...just maybe, a hint of Sheridan sprinkled in.

• OL David Molk is expected to still be out this week, which means Moosman will continue to start at center. The OL really gelled last week as Michigan re-established its running game.

• No word from Rodriguez about the status of Carlos Brown. It is likely that any player which so much as a hang-nail this week will be given the opportunity to rest and rehab any nagging injuries. Expect to see lots of Brandon Minor who is getting closer and closer to 100%, Kevin Grady, Michael Shaw and Vincent Smith.

• Defensively, Boubacar Cissoko is still on the bad list with Rodriguez. He has been demoted to the scout team in practice...and is suspended from games until he "does what we knows he has to do", according to Rodriguez. Word is, his suspension is largely academic related.

• Supreme ruler of space, Zoltan Mesko is your special teams player of the week this week. Mesko boomed 5 punts for a total of 269 yards (53.8 yard average).

• In the secondary, it looks like Woolfolk will stay at corner after a pretty good outing at Iowa. He was tested a few times, although not as much as Warren, but both did pretty well. Kovacs is now the strong safety, which puts Williams at free safety...and Stevie Brown as the roving outside linebacker/safety.

More news as this week unfolds. Hopefully the shoulder and concussion of Tate Forcier heal quickly and he's not too banged up to come out this weekend and redeem himself against a helpless Div. 1-AA opponent.

You could make the argument that Michigan will be looking ahead to Penn State next weekend (3:30PM kickoff on ABC), but I don't think they will. Losing two in a row will give this squad some much needed focus. It's time to get everyone back on the same page and playing good football again.

AND...this week is extra special because MBN has been granted a press pass for the game this weekend! Yep, this Saturday I'll be down on the sidelines and up in the press box in the Big House. It's yet another step for bloggers everywhere towards gaining some level of respectability among the mainstream media. Sure, we're not professionals, I do other things for a living...but more and more people are coming to blogs for a different perspective of what the conventional media will give them.

I really won't have a whole lot of "insider" info to post other than what I will see and experience on gameday, so the real fun stuff won't be coming until probably late Saturday/Sunday. But expect a ton of info about the experience of being a media member for a day and a lot of pictures/video to go along with it.

Many, many thanks to Bruce Madej and his staff at the media relations office for this opportunity.

Go Blue!