Stupid Football Never Wins

Michigan might have played its best game on Saturday and lost.  The reason they lost, they play stupid football.   Let me count the ways

• Zeke Berry doing that is just incredibly stupid 
• Michigan turned the ball over in red zone 2 times.  Michigan should of had a comfortable 9 point lead the entire game. 
• A huge mistake on the kick off return 
• Why wasn't the entire defense in the end zone on that play?
• Michigan dominated the entire game and at the same time was playing Iowa's game 
• I think the Bryce INT was on Marsh 
• I think that hands to the face by Trey Pierce was the wrong call (so I don't consider that a stupid play)

My only concern about hiring Coach Whitt was just this.  His Utah teams were good but never great and he always lost big games.  There are very few head coaches that can take a team to great.  I sure hope Coach Whitt has one career run left in him.  Because this was a comedy of errors today and probably Bryce's best game as a Michigan QB.  

I truly can't process that last sentence.  

If you are a Michigan fan, you knew the Wolverines were in trouble when the out of bounds tip play happened.   You knew this was going to be some type of Iowa strange win and it was.  

Somedays you get beat by a better team and some days you beat yourself.  Michigan clearly beat itself today.   Many we say this win by Iowa is Karma and maybe it was.  I just know this team continues to do stupid things at the worst moments. 

BTW: Oklahoma and WMU got blown out today.

Iowa Preview

Time: 3:30
Location: Big House
Weather: 71 No Rain
TV: CBS

Line: Michigan -5.5

Historically, Iowa has had a great defense and poor offense.  The offense is better and the defense is still really good.  Michigan has a really good defense this season and the offense has struggled at times.  Both teams are 3-0 with close wins over instate teams.   Everyone thinks this will be a low scoring game where a turnover might be the difference.  

Dear Coach Whitt:

I know you understand what "Clean" football is. It's when your team doesn't receive penalties or turns the  the ball over.  Michigan is struggling with both offense and penalties on defense.   You can not make those mistakes against Iowa because they will capitalize on everyone of those.  In fact, their game plan includes them. 

If you're looking for a comp, your Utah teams were sort of the Iowa of the West.   By now you know what it means to be the Michigan head coach and winning in the Big House is paramount to having a good season.  So this is a big game for two reasons, it's your first conference game and its Iowa in the Big House. 

Now to the team, we can't have another first half like the team put on the field against UTEP.  That is unacceptable and you know iit.   The defense needs to play with aggression and the offense can't run into a loaded box over and over.  Every defense is going to make Bryce beat them through the air, I would've assumed you and your staff understood that before the season started.  If not, you do know now. 

Get Savion involved in the passing game and continue to leverage JJ and Marsh.  I do believe we have TE's that are great for getting first downs.  I love running the ball but you can't do that when the box has every defender in it.  On the goal line, UTEP didn't even cover JJ on one play last week.  

We need more creativity on offense and that doesn't mean running Bryce non-stop.  Yes, he needs to get his running plays in, but his ball security concerns me. 

This game should be sponsored by Tide Pods, because the team that plays the "cleanest" will win.   Michigan has to limit the mistakes because  Iowa wants to "hang around" and win late on a field goal.  I hope Michigan's injuries have healed this week and we get Berry, Sprague, and Marshall off the list.  

It's hard to win on the road in the Big Ten and Michigan needs to protect the Big House.  Play clean and play with aggression!  

Michigan 24 Iowa 14

Michigan - Iowa Availability Report

Sprague and Berry Questionable is interesting.  Dom being on the list is not great. 

Micah Ka'apana has been injured his entire Michigan career it seems

Big Ten Week 4 Preview

We finally made it through the non-conference matchups and it's time to play Big Ten Football! Only 2 non-conference games this week. 

Friday Night:

Howard @ Rutgers (-41.5):  Rutgers loves them some Friday night football!  There are already rumors about Brian Kelly being the next head coach as the Scarlet Knights are looking for their 1st win of the year.  Rutgers 31 Howard 10 

Northwestern @ IU (-21):  Ok, on paper this looks like a blowout.  Don't sleep on the Wildcats who just blew out Coach Prime's Colorado team.  IU 28 NW 14 

Saturday:

Illinois @ OSU (-26.5):  What has happened to Illinois?  I expected them to be solid this year and they lost to Duke at home.  To be fair, Duke was the ACC Champs last season.  OSU 40 Illinois 20

UCLA (1.5) @ Maryland: I'm not sure of either team.  I thought Maryland would beat VT last week and they didn't. UCLA has a new coach and seems to be playing better football this season.  I still don't like how the California teams travel East,  Maryland 24 UCLA 21. 

ND (-27.5) @ Purdue:  This should be a walk over for ND as long as they show up.  ND 38 Purdue 10 

Wisconsin @ Penn State (-10):  This should be a huge Big Ten matchup but the game ends up at 5:00 on Peacock.  Penn State 21 Wisconsin 10 

Nebraska (-5.5) @ MSU:  Sparty is not getting any respect after playing ND tough last week.  Nebraska could be fools gold right now.  I like MSU in this one.  MSU 17 Nebraska 14

Oregon (-3) @ USC:  So let me understand this, USC is ranked #12 and Oregon is #20.  USC is playing at home but still a home dog?  It's because USC defense is questionable at best.  Lots of points here.  Oregon 40 USC 38 

Minnesota @ Washington (-10):  These 11:00 EST kick off times are a killer for teams traveling West.  I like Washington here.  Washington 34 Minn 17