Michigan Defense Makes Tough Stand against Illinois, Will Face Stiff Test against Nebraska

Michigan defeated Illinois last Saturday, 31-14, largely because of what looked like an overpowering defense. Last week, the Wolverines had dropped 9 ranks in the polls after their loss to Iowa, going from No. 15 to No. 24 for the Illinois game. Michigan apparently fixed a lot of its mistakes—though there are still many—as it was able to score a touchdown on its first drive and shut out Illinois for the entire first half. We have really seen the difference between last year's coaches and the one led by Greg Mattison and Brady Hoke.

Despite giving up two touchdowns and a couple of big plays, the defense overall had an outstanding game. It is perhaps more outstanding because, with mostly the same players, the team gave up 65 points in a triple overtime win only a year earlier. 2010's defense couldn't stop anybody. In this game the defense racked up four sacks, limiting Illinois to 37 net rushing yards. The defense was hardly flawless, however. At least three times the defenders bit on the zone-read option play when Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhasse kept the ball himself, and one of those resulted in one of Illinois's two touchdowns.

Aside from Michigan's sacks, the defense was impressive in its third down stance. Illinois only converted 5 of 17 third downs, many of which were on third and one. Michigan cornerback J.T. Floyd also played well: he not only did a good job containing Illinois primary receiver A.J. Jenkins, but Floyd also picked off one of Scheelhasse's passes and returned it for 43 yards. Again, this might not sound like much, but it is impressive given how much Scheelhasse and the Illinois offense was able to completely pick apart the Michigan defense last year. This squad has really improved.

Most of Michigan's struggles, however, came on offense. Denard Robinson scored Michigan's first two touchdowns rushing, but his total rushing yards were limited. He was also injured in the second half, which prompted Devin Gardner to play from under center. Gardner himself has been questionable all year, despite our encouraging profile piece on him a while back. Gardner did show a bit of improvement as quarterback, most notably with a pass to Martavious Odoms that went for a touchdown. Our estimation is that Gardner will improve with more experience. Running back Fitzgerald Toussaint also had a really good game, racking up a career-high 192 yards rushing. Illinois never even sniffed that.

As is often the case following a win, there's a lot of optimism around the Michigan blogs and a lot of praise surrounding the defense. In both their posts and weekly podcast, MGoBlog gives rightful props to the defense and is quite impressed with J.T. Floyd:

A.J. Jenkins may have gotten his requisite eight catches for 100 yards but Scheelhaase had to work for it. At one point they showed some Jenkins stats and noted that he had five catches… and fourteen targets. According to Adam Jacobi he ended with eight on 20. That's 5 [yards per attempt] throwing to a guy who may be the best [wide receiver] in the Big Ten.

Even that undersells Floyd's day. The deep ball that took Jenkins's stats from mediocre to decent was zone coverage in the middle of the field Floyd was not directly responsible for (and it came after Scheelhaase was given all day). When involved Floyd was all over double moves and jumped a third and short pass for the interception that sealed the game with a little help from Gardner and Odoms.

Dave at Maize n Brew has let out a much-needed sigh of relief that Michigan was finally able to get to eight wins, something it hasn't achieved since 2007. "The transformation of this defense has been astounding," he wrote. "Through 10 games Michigan has 21 sacks. This compared to a paltry 18 sacks through 13 games last season. Over the past three years Michigan's defense has allowed Juice Williams, Justin Siller, and Matt McGloin to torch it. Read that again and try not to cry. But today... man... it's just amazing. This is now a defense that corralled a mobile, talented quarterback to the tune of four sacks and a pick. Even more impressive, they held Illinois to just 37 yards rushing. 37 yards. That's almost a 10th of the 315 rushing yards they gave up a year ago. The difference is night and day. And the difference is shown in the win column. Eight."

This was a good win. Michigan still isn't a world-beater on both sides of the ball, but it was nice to see the Wolverines get down in the grit and stuff Illinois when they absolutely had to. That's why defense is so important: when the other team isn't scoring, even if your own offense isn't as productive as you'd like them to be, it still takes a lot of the pressure off.

"We are really proud of our kids," defensive-minded Brady Hoke said in a recent press conference, "and how they played on Saturday, how they went out there as a team. I think we really complemented each other as a football team, in a lot of ways. Offensively, taking the ball down in the first possession and scoring always helps you, from a mindset and your enthusiasm when you play the game. Defensively, I thought our defense played awfully well, and played together."

Michigan last two games of the regular season will be played at home, the first of which is against Nebraska. This will arguably be the toughest test Michigan, and certainly their defense, will face before a bowl game. (Ohio State, having lost to Purdue but having beaten Wisconsin, is difficult to analyze.) Nebraska has played well all year, with its only two losses of the season so far coming to Wisconsin, which was expected, and Northwestern, in an upset. MGoBlog isn't too worried about Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez, however: "…if you've ever watched Martinez throw…eesh. Imagine Denard passing, but instead of an arm he has a chicken wing. Expect to see Jordan Kovacs nuzzling the line of scrimmage frequently."

Meanwhile, Nebraska's defense may prove to be the difference. It is a lot better than Michigan State's. Recently Michigan's offensive coordinator Al Borges has said that the Nebraska defense is "good. Well coached. I had an opportunity to coach against coach Pelini when I was at Auburn. They do a great job with their four match zone, where they take your guys away. They cover you. They're one of those defenses like a couple we're played this year that really want to take it all away. They don't want the ball checked down. They don't want the ball thrown down field. They want to take away the run. There's no bend but don't break in their style. They know what they're doing, and they know how to coach."

Before the season started, Nebraska was the game I was most worried about, giving Michigan's chance to win a measly 17%. The season has evolved and changed a lot since then: I also expected Michigan to lose to what I thought was going to be a very prepared Notre Dame.

Can Michigan afford to lose to Nebraska? Well, yes and no. As a true fanatic, I can't say that Michigan is ever allowed to lose any game, but like Iowa, a loss to Nebraska won't be soul-crushing. They are a good team who have come into the Big Ten and have made a statement. 

Like most of the Big Ten teams, however, they've also been upset in surprising defeats. I almost want to say that Michigan should use this game as preparation for Ohio State, because that's essentially all it is. Michigan will not be going to the inaugural Big Ten Championship game, which we never really expected since all we wanted was an 8-4 season with OSU and MSU being among those eight.

Illinois had a good rushing defense, but Michigan dominated it. Nebraska, of course, is better, but since Michigan wasn't completely routed or stalled by the Illini, there is the thought that they can muster the same performance. Hopefully it would carry over, because Ohio State has a good defense, too.

It will be an adequate test, before the ultimate one.

Penn State Sex Scandal Shakes Program to the Core

Not even Joe Paterno could survive this one.

In what has been one of the most dramatic and troubling weeks of college football, the Penn State football program has decided to clean house in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.

Sandusky, Paterno's defensive coordinator from 1977 to 1999, was arrested after allegations were made that he had molested and even raped young boys in his charitable foundation, the Second Mile. The scandal got worse as revelations emerged about the involvement of head coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley, and finance officer Gary Schultz, all of whom had knowledge of the allegations but never reported it to the police. Schultz himself was in charge of campus police.

The Huffington Post lays out a timeline of Sandusky's tenure at Penn State and chronicles the abuse. Paterno first learned of the Sandusky allegations from Mike McQueary (a graduate assistant at the time), who reportedly witnessed Sandusky molest a boy in the showers and told Paterno about it. Paterno then informed Tim Curley, the athletic director. Sandusky was banned from bringing young boys onto campus. He retired but still retained emeritus status and an office on campus, in the building where the allegations took place. It was never reported to law enforcement.

Penn State fans say that Joe Paterno met his legal obligation by informing his superior (Curley) of the allegations, but Paterno came under fire from the media, critics, and families of the victims for never following up and never reporting it to the police once it was clear that the athletic department wasn't going to get law enforcement involved. This is especially damaging given Joe Paterno's long history of promoting integrity and serving as a model that Penn State "does things the right way." Some of the allegations against Sandusky are believed to have taken place even while he was on Paterno's staff. There are as many as eight victims who have come forward and testified that Sandusky molested them.

The reactions to this case have been visceral. In the wake of Sandusky's arrest and imminent trial, Curley and Schultz are both facing criminal charges for perjury and failing to report child abuse. They have each stepped down from their positions: Schultz has resigned, and Curley asked for an extended leave of absence.

Shortly after the news of the allegations broke, Penn State University president Graham Spanier offered what he called his "unconditional support" for both Curley and Schultz. Spanier has since been fired as university president. On Wednesday, November 9, Joe Paterno announced that he would retire at the end of the season. However, the Penn State board of trustees convened and decided that it was "in the best interests" of the university for Paterno to be relieved of his duties immediately. With students surrounding his house, Paterno learned in a phone conversation with the board of trustees that he had been fired, and board officials made a formal announcement less than an hour later.

As many media outlets point out, the story has become less about Jerry Sandusky's sex abuse of minors and more about the firing of Joe Paterno, who has been the head coach of Penn State for forty-five years and has recently become the winningest coach in Division I football. Because the aspects of this case concern the welfare of children, and because molestation charges often evoke such intense reactions of both disgust and anger, there have been heated emotions on both sides. While some were calling for Joe Paterno and the entire Penn State football staff to step down, and were happy when they got their wish when Paterno announced his retirement, students took to the streets in protest when they learned that Paterno had been fired. Random acts of violence and property damage ensued, including a news vehicle being tipped over.

When the news of the allegations first broke on the blogosphere, Penn State fans said everything they could to keep Joe Paterno from being targeted and blamed. The Grand Jury that indicted Jerry Sandusky had concluded that Paterno himself would not be charged like Curley and Schultz, since he had reported the abuse to them. However, critics have said that Joe Paterno, while meeting his "legal obligation," failed to meet his "moral obligation" in the case. The failure of reporting Sandusky to authorities on the part of Penn State officials (Curley, Schultz, Paterno, Spanier, and even McQueary) allowed Sandusky to enjoy freedom for more than twenty years as he continued to molest more victims. Paterno admitted that he wished he did more.

This has been a grim reminder that, as sad as the firing of Joe Paterno was, there are more important things in life than college football. Yes, the end of Paterno's tenure at Penn State is a tragedy for the game of football—but football is just a game. What Sandusky was allowed to do, because he was never brought to justice until now, has destroyed the lives of so many children, and no Big Ten championships or national championships will ever be able to erase that. When ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit was asked about the scandal and the firing of Joe Paterno, Herbstreit made an interesting point, although Penn State fans will likely find it controversial.

"The one thing that I think we sometimes overlook when we're discussing this is that this isn't an NCAA infraction," Herbstreit said. "These are the most unthinkable acts that can cross your mind, and this doesn't have anything to do with the NCAA, with Penn State, and with Penn State football, and Joe Paterno. This is like off the Richter scale as far as what we're trying to deal with, so people who are rioting, and people who are showing up and supporting Joe Paterno—listen, we're all in your camp. Everything that Joe meant, everything that he still means to the sport of college football, we get that, but this is bigger than that. This is bigger—than Joe Paterno and being the winningest coach in college football. There's going to be a time to celebrate his career. This isn't about celebrating his career. This is not the time to think about Joe Paterno. To me, this is the time to think about what these young boys were facing, and what they still face, and what their parents face. That's what this is about."

It's hard to see where Penn State, as a program, goes from here. Hardly anyone associated with Penn State or college football remembers a time when Joe Paterno was not the head coach. Personally, I believed that Penn State needed to clean house. It needed to start a new chapter, turn the page, so that it can give justice to the victims and move forward as a college football program.

Joe Paterno's decision to retire at the end of the season was, in my opinion, absolutely the right call, but I was less thrilled to learn that he had been fired. While I can understand the board of trustees' decision, I don't necessarily agree with it. I thought Paterno's retirement was a happy medium, a way for Penn State to turn the page but Paterno, who is guilty of not reporting Sandusky's crimes to police but was also not complicit in covering them up, could leave the program with some dignity—after everything he has done to help Penn State.

This would have been different if the scandal broke out at the start of the season and overshadowed the program for months. But it's just three weeks, which would have gone by before anyone knew it. It was just three more games, and potentially the Big Ten championship. Joe Paterno was not going to be the coach in 2012. He was already stepping down. Now, with his firing, the board of trustees made an incredibly difficult and obviously controversial decision that has resulted in student riots and will likely have more backlash for weeks, months, and perhaps even years to come. But it was what they felt they had to do.

Anyone who is a fan of college football probably has respect for Joe Paterno, who is considered by many to be a living legend. He is essentially Penn State's version of Bo Schembechler. Despite his many positive contributions, Paterno's unceremonious firing, which some consider to be the necessary move, will likely tarnish his legacy. Penn State can no longer boast its sterling reputation or unblemished record. The immediate impact of Paterno's departure will be felt most by Penn State's seniors, who will have to finish the season without the football coach they wanted to play for when they first committed. No one expected the Jerry Sandusky scandal to be completely overblown. It has shaken the program to the core. When news first broke of the allegations and what it would mean for the program, a Penn State fan wrote on a blog: "This is Penn State's darkest day."

Tom Bradley will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. CBS Sports reported that Mike McQueary, who witnessed Sandusky raping a child and afterwards informed Paterno, will not be on the sidelines on Saturday. Paterno, who was hoping to leave Penn State at the end of the season, announced his retirement so that the board would not have to debate a decision. He was disappointed to learn that the board would not allow him to finish the season, and he later issued a statement regarding his dismissal.

"I am disappointed with the Board of Trustees' decision, but I have to accept it," he said. His supporters continue to flock to his home in droves, but Paterno told them to pray for the victims and their families.

Gameplay Against Iowa Exposes Michigan's Weaknesses

Well, we're at that point in the season, the point where we can start to see exactly what kind of team we have.

In the first half of the season, we tried as hard as we could to remain objective. Michigan seemed like a team that wasn't a world-beater but was a team that still found a way to win. Now, well into the meat of the Big Ten, we know the sober truth: Michigan certainly isn't a world-beater, and it has weaknesses. Despite Brady Hoke's high hopes for his first season, the Wolverines will not contend for the Big Ten title.

To some degree, this was to be expected. It was Hoke's first year, he and Borges are trying to gradually incorporate the pro-style offense while still retaining elements of Rich Rodriguez's spread, and the defense is steadily improving. As much as Hoke loves Michigan and wants to win championships, we knew there was a difference between being realistic and being unrealistic. A Big Ten title in Hoke's first year seemed out of the question at first, then Michigan's first six games gave us a little too much optimism, and now we're back.

This isn't to say that Hoke hasn't done a phenomenal job for a first year Michigan head coach. He did a great job uniting the fanbase, locking down the state's top recruits, and starting his coaching era with a bang. 

His team played their hearts out against a Notre Dame team that they probably should have lost to and instead won. The Wolverines faced the team that Hoke built in San Diego and, despite a capable Ryan Lindley and dangerous Ronnie Hillman, stalled them. Northwestern made us believe that Hoke's team could overcome virtually any obstacles.

However, the fact remains: Michigan has a long way to go. Iowa showed us what happens when Michigan cannot establish a solid running game, and it reminded us that, while Michigan may have talent, it is not dominating. Michigan has gone from being especially bad to being mediocre—which is why the defense looks so good. Mediocre teams beat bad ones every day of the week, but it can't stand up to the solid, really good ones. Don't get me wrong: this is a necessary stage in Michigan's improvement. It is unreasonable to expect greatness overnight.

Michigan mounted a last-ditch effort to take Iowa into overtime, driving all the way to the goal line, but it wasn't meant to be. Michigan fans everywhere will gripe about the fourth-and-goal pass interference on Roy Roundtree that wasn't called. They will say that Michigan could have won, and they'd be right. Michigan could have won this game, but their slow start finally came back to haunt them. After the Wolverines failed to produce points on their opening drive, they spent the entire game trying to play catch up. The defense kept the game close (although Jake Ryan was mysteriously absent), but Michigan's greater weaknesses have been exposed on offense. Iowa did exactly what Michigan State did: prevent Michigan from establishing the run, force Denard Robinson to pass, and get him out of rhythm. The only difference between this game and the Notre Dame one was that Iowa prevented Robinson from getting into a rhythm for the entire game.

As I walked out of the bar where I had watched the Michigan game, someone saw my Michigan gear and asked, "How did Michigan do today?"

"We lost," I said. "To Iowa."

"Iowa???"

Exactly.

It was a sobering reminder of what Michigan used to be: a dominating team. Iowa may have recently gotten good, basing their offensive and defensive models off of old-school Michigan and Ohio State because that's what you needed in the Big Ten, but Michigan was always better—until the radical departure brought by Rich Rodriguez.

Now, I'm not going to harp on Rodriguez about this. He genuinely believed that his spread and 3-3-5 could work in the Big Ten, and even today there are proponents who continue to argue this. Then there's too much evidence to the contrary, and that evidence being Big Ten teams who roll over us: despite the Michigan's defense's effort, Iowa's Marcus Coker's power running was their primary reason for yardage and, ultimately, scores. It would have been uglier if Michigan didn't have Greg Mattison.

Of course, a lot of Michigan fans are griping about the offense. MGoBlog, a continued advocate for Rich Rodriguez, has taken an obligatory turn to the negative and the unhopeful: "Michigan's played three games against BCS teams with winning records. In each they've fallen behind by multiple scores. Yardage in those games before entering desperation chuck mode: 130 (Notre Dame), 226 (MSU), and 166 (Iowa). Whatever the plan is, it doesn't seem to be working against teams better than Minnesota." The article's writer, Brian Cook, believes that the primary reason for Michigan's recent struggle is the possibility that Denard Robinson isn't being used effectively:

"Denard has limitations. They are severe. He has assets that offset those. They are not being used effectively. He was an All-American last year and is being derided as plain 'not very good' on blogs; he won't sniff a Heisman vote. He's gone backwards. The question is why. Candidate answers: a) Losing Martell Webb, Darryl Stonum, and Steve Schilling, b) Losing Rich Rodriguez, c) Aging backwards like Benjamin Button. I'll take door B."

To clarify, Denard Robinson was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2010, but he was not an All-American. Michigan also struggled against the tougher Big Ten teams (including Iowa) last year, under the leadership of Rich Rodriguez. So I'm less inclined to believe that Rodriguez is the component missing in order to make Michigan beat every team it faces.

What we can say along those lines, however, is that Rodriguez's effect is still being felt: more than half of the players on Michigan's team were identified and recruited by Rodriguez. He notably preferred speed over size. With him gone, the players have done their best to work with the new coaches, they have worked extremely hard, and a lot of that has paid off. But it's not a dominating team, or Michigan would have put Iowa away in the first half.

This leaves us looking towards the future, again. Michigan has three opportunities left to prove that they are a different team from 2010. Nebraska will likely be the toughest bout, despite being played in Michigan Stadium, and Ohio State is getting back to its old self. The pressure to beat the Buckeyes rises with each loss, and I'm not excited about the bowl Michigan will play in. (I'm hoping for the Texas Bowl, but even that won't be pretty.)

Michigan will have to use every game as an opportunity for improvement. They need to get better. I'm confident that Brady Hoke can do that, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm also very nervous about the rest of the season.