Beached Whale at Half

They watched as the blob washed upon the sand, having left his home of the green sea. And so Charlie Weis washed out of the South Bend gridiron and into the Club Car which carted him to teh bowels of the stadium. He shall not return.

Uugh. Rich Rodriguez should remove his head from his ass. You can't have a kickoff return that puts you in good field position unless your returners can first catch the ball. I'd turn a responsible eye toward Boubacar, but after 2 in a row there is only one person responsible.

Another Uuugh. Whoever the hell called a 2 yard route on 3rd and goal from the 7 (read Rich Rodriguez here) should be permanently removed from the sideline (or booth as the case may be). Unforgiveable.

Positives: Steven Threet looks like the real deal. Great first half by Threet. McGuffie Rocks. Morgan Trent and D. Warren have played pretty well given the situations presented. Greg Matthews has played terrific and hasn't dropped a ball yet - unless you're the ref ND paid to call the touchdown an incomplete pass and D. Warren's breakup an interference. And, nice piggy back ride for KG.

Negatives: Our run defense has revisited Utah first half, which was a major issue coming in. We have not pressured the emu enough. But worst of all -- our coaching staff has really had some atrocious game and clock management decisions. Say what you will about the open offense, the game breakers, etc; but what is clear from the first half is that we have no problem giving the ball back to the other team instead of using the clock to run the half out; nor do we have any problem rushing no huddles to a 3 and out after 2 straight 12 yard drives and a shellshocked offense. The personnel will change as the spread players are recruited and the young guys now playing get some more experience, but if these types of decisions don't change, there is a major, major problem in A2.

Optimism reigns. We've given Weis 14 points. The refs took away 7 from us, and we're still only down 28 -17. Our offense is alive. But the weather has arrived. That may actually benefit Michigan as a result of the impact on the ND long ball.

Go Blue!