I now know what a win does for a struggling program.  I didn't before because really, Michigan had never struggled, but I get it now.  There is jubilation that leads the fanbase to say things like "I think we can beat Ohio State."  That's all well and good, but remember that this is the same team that lost to Toledo, Purdue, etc.  Things don't just change overnight.  The win was great, but lets keep expectations in check.  After all, if Hope floats, she's most certainly a witch.

Lost in the jubliation that we may not be the worst football team to ever disgrace the game, and lost among the throngs of fans holding out just enough hope that maybe we could beat Ohio State, and maybe this wouldn't be the worst season ever, is the fact that we play Northwestern this weekend without (likely) the aid of our starting quarterback or runningback.  Yikes.  With that in mind, here are some thoughts on what we might see offensively against Northwestern.

Feagin will play (but not start) at QB

We saw Feagin at the helm against Minnesota, and by and large he did pretty well.  He's basically the recepient of the incredibly obvious quarterback draw, but that incredibly obvious draw did manage to go for 30+ yards on one play.  There are two reasons why I'm not enraged at this.

Something we might actually see?

1)  Sheridan/Threet have shown that they are not going to keep the ball.  Threet especially, over the past few games, has been very reluctant to keep the ball even when the read is "keep the ball."  Every time Threet puts it into Minor's belly, it's just wasted time that Minor could be running, because defenses already know that Minor's got it.  So why not eliminate a step?  If the coaching staff really believes that they can be successful with an incredibly obvious zone-read in which the tailback keeps it 99% of the time, then why not just snap it to him? 

2)  Feagin, in this case, is the tailback.  Defenses know that he is going to run it, especially after we showed the play to Minnesota.  Northwestern will defenitely know that Feagin is running the ball when he's in.  Except that now, with Feagin, you actually have an option because he can throw it.  Feagin may very well keep it at all times against Northwestern, but I have to believe that eventually they're going to have Feagin at least attempt a homerun pass out of that set.  It may be that they hold off on that until the Ohio State game, I don't know, but the defense will be geared up from the pre-snap to stop that run, and there may just be something there over the top.

McGuffie and Shaw will likely split time at tailback

On the list of  young players who have impressed me the most, Shaw is right up there.  He was kept out previous to these past few games with a lingering injury, but man does he look good now.  I think he provides a "between the tackles" element that is missing with McGuffie.

Impressive thus far

via blog.mlive.com

Speaking of McGuffie, I've been very impressed with his hands this season catching the ball downfield.  I expect that he's going to be used out of the backfield or even in the slot at times this weekend.  He's made some catches that would have been tough for a true wide-out to make, let alone a first year tailback.  Watch for this to be exploited by Rodriguez as his playing time increases.

Mathews and Stonum will see increased "targets."

via blog.mlive.com

Until the Minnesota game, there was a legitimate argument to be made that Freshman TE Kevin Koger was our most dangerous downfield threat.  I don't think that is the case anymore, as it was clearly an emphasis on the coaching staff's part to go downfield more with the passing attack.  Lost in all the Odoms love is the fact that Mathews and Stonum have actually played very well when they get catchable balls. Additionally, both have shown impressive "YAC" abilities.  I think that they will feature more prominantly in the gameplan against a Northwestern team that will have problems with receivers of this size. 

There will be a new wrinkle

Last week it was the screen out of the diamond formation, and the hitch routes run by Matthews and Stonum.  This week there will be something new, I just don't yet know what that will be.  It may be that they've built more around Feagin under center.  It could also be some sort of blocking scheme that I won't pick up on until the UFR.  Something will change.

These are just my sort of feelings on what will be some of the storylines going into the Northwestern game.  Anybody out there feel like they've got something else?  Maybe some things you think we'll see defensively?  Post in the comments, and we'll get a discussion going.  Look for a more stats-ish preview later in the week.

(Ed. Note - No. I can't spell. And yes. I did change the originally misspelled "Evaluating" to "Evaluating." kthnxbi!)

Sure, it's Thursday, time to move on. But Michigan Football's performance on Saturday left plenty of things to discuss. Like what, if anything, positive we can take away from the game and the things we need to work on. With that in mind I dish out a few Celebratory Brews and a boatload of Wags of my Finger and wonder out loud just how rough this season is going to be.

Celebratory Brews!

Um...

Well... Someone had to have done something good... oh yeah... kinda...

Offensive Play Calling - Despite Brian's excellent breakdown of the failures of the Zone Read against Illinois' defense, I thought the play calling was aggressive and relatively well suited to the players. Sure Threet's throws weren't the best from time to time and offensive execution wasn't great by any means, but the Coaches put the offense in a position to be successful. The players just couldn't make it work against the Illini.

Martavious Odoms' Kick Off Returns - The fourth quarter fumble be damned, Odoms was awesome in the return game. Michigan started every drive north of the 25 yard line and usually around the 30 or better. On seven returns he averaged 26 yards a return and made something out of Michigan's horrific return blocking.

Greg Mathews - 4 catches, 73 yards and touchdown. When Michigan threw his way Mathews was dangerous. They just didn't throw his way enough.

via www.mikedesimone.com

Zoltan Mesko - Keeps doing his job. A 47 yard average, including a 55 yarder, 3 downed inside the 20. Not too shaby. The Space Emperor is living up to his name.

and we're done here....

Wags of the Finger!

Good God, where to start?

The Defensive Secondary - There is only one other non-USC, non-bowl related pasting of Michigan's secondary that is even remotely in this category, and that is Dennis Dixon's aerial dismanteling of the Wolverines last year. During that game the Wolverines surrendered passing touchdowns of 85, 61, and 46 yards, and Dixon threw for 293 yards.

During the Illinois game Michigan gave up passing plays of 46, 57, and 77 yards, with the last two resulting in touchdowns. Illinois' receivers ran free, as though they were happy gazels in a lion free tundra. Nothing went right. Tackles were whiffed on, angles were poor, decision making was terrible. Everyone in the defensive secondary was bad. You can't point to a single guy and say, "well, he was okay." No. He wasn't. He was bad too. Five games into the season the fact that the secondary's problems in recognizing the difference between a run and a pass play do not bode well for Michigan's chances against any remotely competent quarterback.

Fumbles - Someone please make this nightmare stop. Karma? The WLA has a point. For four years Mike Hart didn't fumble once, unless it was during a bowl game. Now Karma has come around to bite us in the ass. Hart's two fumbles were just a warning of the flood that was to come. Michigan leads the Big Ten in fumbles and fumbles lost. Actually, they lead the COUNTRY in fumbles lost, tied with Wyoming, and Army at 117th in football protection. Woo! We're number #1(17)!

No one besides McGuffie can keep from fumbling. Brandon Minor can't hold onto the damn ball. If he could, he'd be an integral part of this offense. To pilfer from MGoBlog (comment #19) Commenter Other Chris, the fumble percentages look like this:

McGuffie: 1 fumble in 96 touches -- 1% fumble rate
Odoms: 1 fumble in 36 touches -- 2.8% fumble rate
Minor: 3 fumbles in 15 touches -- 20% fumble rate
Grady: 1 fumble in 12 touches -- 8.3% fumble rate

Just to make you a little more nauseous, Threet has eight fumbles (losing four of them). I maintain the back breaking fumble against Illinois was Shaw's fault, so that total should be 7/3, but it's still horrific. Worse, at least two of those fumbles were unforced "the ball slipped out of my hand" fumbles inside the red zone. Seriously. WTF!? Worse, the fumblitis is getting to people that aren't even playing that much. If you want to count Mike Shaw's touches (4 rushes, 2 KOR, 4 receptions) he's got two fumbles for a 20% fumble rate, per touch. The ball may be coated in tephlon, this is just one of those freak things, it could also be a coaching issue. My money's on all three.

At a certain point you just throw your hands up and shake you head in disbelief for a final time. Maybe this will get better, but it probably won't and it'll be an achilles heel that will more likely than not keep Michigan out of a bowl game this year. These are, after all, kids. I'm hopeful that with age and experience this trend will go down and ball security will improve, but I'm not expecting it any more than I expect a puppy not to piss on my carpet. It's going to happen. I know it. The puppy knows it. There ain't nothing I can do about it.

Refereeing - This is getting comical. And not Lewis Black or Chris Rock funny comical. Carrot Top comical. Comical to the point you want to jump off the balcony to end your suffering comical. Referees directly infront of a play aren't making proper calls while back judges are flinging flags on plays they can barely see. This is hitting Sun Belt levels of quality. The officiating must be overhauled immediately, because even though the officiating didn't cost Michigan this particular game, it's going to cost a front running Big Ten team a game in the near future. No matter what game I'm watching the Referees are missing obvious calls while calling the borderline and not even close kind of penalties. This has to stop. Otherwise the repuation of a Conference in decline continue to grow in validity because of people that aren't even playing the game. And that's even more nauseating than Michigan's fumble problems.

Everything Else - I could wag my finger all day long, but I'd type until my fingers were worn down to the bone. The errant throws. The lack of pressure. The linebackers' horrific, horrific play. The Offensive line being incapable of blocking in the second half. Everything. Everything in the world and time up till now. Everything. For Shame!

All Things In Between

Noise - For what its worth, the construction around Michigan Stadium is making the Stadium a lot louder. The last two games have been the loudest I've ever heard in the Big House. For all the criticism bloggers and the media have leveled on the fans, for the most part, people have been incredibly supportive of what is a bad football team. And those same fans were yellin', screamin' and clappin' as loud as they can first through fourth down during the first three and a half quarters. In my section, which is full of old folks and alumni, no one sat down and everyone was yellin. The House is getting louder, and as this team improves, it's going to be a huge advantage.

Illinois Fans - For the most part, you were nice people. A couple of you were schmucks, but for the most part nice enough. I wish your football team luck with the remainder of your schedule. You beat us in our house and I tip my cap to you.

Certain Illinois Fans - We need to talk. Mostly about your shirt selection. Now I realize you're in college and the idea that you can curse and swear and wear whatever you want is new to you, and the fact that you can do all of those things on a T-shirt makes your insides all tingly, but grow up. Maybe it's not exclusive to Illinois fans, but the highest percentage of visiting fans to wear the oh so clever "Muck Fichigan" t-shirts are the Illini. Muck Fichigan. He he. It's like I'm swearing, but I'm not. Because the letters are swapped. It's da bomb brah.

Yeah. Ha ha. You're a dumbass. If you own or wear a shirt like that (this includes anyone with a "-uck [School]" t-shirt of any kind), I'll say it again so I'm crystal clear on this point. You're a dumbass. You can think you're clever, but those shirts and signs have been around for decades and they were stupid then too. The same with the "Ann Arbor is a Whore" t-shirt. Attention, dumbass, they've been circulating since the 60's. If you're wearing either of these shirts in public, you're not only a dumbass but you're an unoriginal dumbass. Come up with something new. I beg of you. Please prove to me there something else to do in Chambana than drink grain alcohol and pledge the Greek system.

Sure, it's Wednesday, time to move on. But there are still things to discuss. Like what we can take away from the game and the things we need to work on. With that in mind I dish out a few Celebratory Brews and a couple of Wags of my finger!

Celebratory Brews:

The Defense:  There aren't enough superlatives to do justice to the job they did on Saturday. Aside from a few missed tackles (more on that later), one of the best defensive performances the Big House has seen in quite some time. Taylor, Johnson and Max Martin get massive props for Standing up Wisconsin's massive line, and winning. Also, while Taylor and Johnson were great, I hope everyone is paying attention to just how good Mike Martin has been (as opposed to Max Martin, who's name I erroneously used before). And he's a freshman. But a freshman who shed a double block on the failed two point conversion to smash Evridge as he threw on the game's final, and most important play. If he continues to play like this we're going to be memorializing his name in song very shortly.

Halftime Adjustments:  Until this year I'd only heard of them. When the coaching staff realized the horizontal game plan wasn't working, they changed it. I back sets. Some traditional power game. The deep ball. The offensive coaching staff should be commended for an excellent second half.

Jonas Mouton:  Just an outstanding game by the young linebacker. Mouton was all over the field from my vantage point; in a good way. He seems like a hybrid DE/LB in the Shawn Crable mold, except without the constant penalties that make you want to break things. Mouton routinely shed his blockers to make a play, blitzed his way into Evridge's helmet, and took down backs in space when he was the only thing between them and 30 yards. That added up to 8 tackles, a sack, and a boatload of props. Monster game.

Brandon Graham:  Defensive POW in the Big Ten. I still maintain my prediction that he's going to break someone in half by midseason. He saved the game sacking Evridge at the six. Leads the Big Ten in TFL.

Brandon Harrison:  Quickly becoming my favorite player on the 2008 squad. I've never seen someone his size hit like that. Cus D'amato once said of Mike Tyson, "He hits with bad intentions." So does Harrison. Harrison laid a hit on PJ Hill halfway through the second quarter that made my teeth rattle, and it should be noted that Hill sat out the rest of that series. Harrison also lit up Wisconsin's receivers whenever they touched the ball. At five foot nothin' he plays like the biggest guy in the defensive backfield.

All your conciousness are belong to Brandon Harrison. via mikedesimone.com

Donovan Warren:  Served notice that the left side of the field is his, and his alone. Throw there at your peril. Best corner in the Big Ten at this point in the season. Warren also showed he can play some run defense, as he took down a handful of stretches to his side and made a touchdown saving tackle on Clay when he busted contain in the second.

Minor/McGuffie/Grady/Brown:  All of them chipped in something big. Minor busted the "holy crap we can win this" run. Grady gave us hope with the "this is our season" 4&1 conversion. Brown gave Threet his first passing first down and seemed to settle Threet with that effort. McGuffie capped the comeback with a ballsy, 3& goal cut to the endzone. Sure some longer runs would've been nice, but these guys provided consistent effort and great pass blocking all day. They also provided 14  points.

Steven Threet, Version 2.0:  Not to be confused with the Version 1.0 that spent the majority of the first half flailing about the backfield like a trout on dry land. While V2.0 wasn't perfect, he was pretty damn good and showed himself to be an above average college level quarterback on Saturday. He showed some touch, threw a couple of outstanding deep passes, and made the proper decisions at crucial times in the comeback. Plus, that pass to Koger was beautiful. His intermediate, middle of the field passes still need work but the majority of what he showed us from the 30 minute mark onward was outstanding.

The Offensive Line:  While this group wasn't terrific during the opening half, they were more than serviceable. The fact Michigan couldn't run the ball had more to do with 9 man fronts more than anything else. Even on the rare occasion someone got to Threet in the backfield, it was usually on a broken play or that infamous late hit. Face it, they controlled the line of scrimage the second half of the game. Threet may have been hit from time to time, but the line didn't give up a sack. Not bad for a bunch guys the media called no-names, back-ups and underachievers at the beginning of the year. Steve Schilling, at least from where I was sitting, looked pretty impressive.

Wags of the Finger:

First Half Offensive Play Calling:  When your wife is describing the the play calling as Weis-esque, you know something is wrong. She alos mockingly asked when we hired Bob Davie to run our offense. That may have cut to the bone, but, damn son, I married a good woman. While I will grant you Threet V1.0 was terrible, even that shouldn't have handcuffed the Michigan offense to the extent we saw. Wisconsin was stacking the line, over pursuing, and locking in on the totally obvious screens we were running. A little misdirection, mabye even a single deep ball in the first half would've helped to keep the defense honest. It wasn't pretty.

Throwing to the Shortest Guy on the Field in the Middle of the Zone:  I may be in the minority on this, but the continued attempts to get Martavious Odoms the ball on these little run to the hole in the zone pass plays are driving me crazy. Yes, Threet was inaccurate on a majority of those throws, but if there's a linebacker anywhere between Threet and Odoms that's a tough throw. It's also going to be a throw where an extra 6 inches in height and arm span come in handy. If the backer's in there, there's got to be height on the throw, and its got to be a hard throw because otherwise the safety will knock it away or intercept it. We tried it at least four times and got one completion. Two bad passes, one drop, and one completion. Those numbers scream "Don't Ever Use Me Again," at least until Threet proves he can make the throw and Odoms proves he can catch it.

Martavious Odoms:  I'll be honest, this is a stretch, but Odoms looked a little lost. He failed to turn around for the ball twice on passes to him. He dropped a ball or two that should've been caught, and looked a little tentative. He's here because of the misunderstandings on the pass plays. We're lucky those didn't get intercepted and run back.

Morgan Trent:  Maybe I'm being too harsh, but Trent had a rough day. The fumble on the kick off was just maddening. On the second quarter Clay near-touchdown run, Trent blew the tackle that allowed Clay to scamper an extra 20 yards before Warren pushed him out of bounds. On the game's last touchdown, he got beat, stumbling on his own two feet, on a single move to the middle of the field. Sure Brown had the inside of that play, but Trent's stumble allowed the free release before Brown could get there. In his defense, one of the bright spots was an absolutely wicked hit he put on Jefferson. Even so, I'm sure this is a day #14 would like to have back.

Steven Threet Version 1.0: Horrid. Bad decision making. Bad option release. Bad arm mechanics. Bad throws. I think he'd agree with me on this.

Officiating: These guys were terrible. Failure to review plays that warranted it (Mathews fumble). They missed, at a minimum two blantant Pass interference calls in one series, a dozen obvious holds, and blew at least on call on replay (the completion on UW's final drive).

Hi, I'm Bobo, and I'll be the lead Big Ten Official for your game! 

Special Teams:  Two more fumbles and an anemic return game. WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?

All Things Inbetween:

The Linebackers: Great game from Ezi and Thompson. Under normal circumstances they'd be at the top of the Celebratory Brews list, but I ran out of space. One thing that deserves special note is Thompson's individual effort to string out a stretch play while being blocked by a fullback and tackle, and still make the stop during UW's second possession of the Second half. He was the only thing between UW and a big gain, and he made things happen. Quietly, these guys played great.

The Booing:  Meh. Everyone's chimed in on this. Brian hates it. Varsity Blue's annoyed. M Victors didn't like. Maize and Blue Nation had an anurysm over it. On the other hand, Michigan Sports Center and I have owned up to being among those who voiced their displeasure. To each their own. In hindsight I wish I'd kept my emotions a little better in check and not done it, but I don't blame people who did. That was the worst played half of football Michigan's ever played in the Big House, and to paraphrase Chris Rock, "I'm not saying you should've done it, but I understand."

Block M in the Student Section: Wooooooo!

via mvictors.com

Kevin Koger:  Welcome to the show kid. From the looks of things Koger will be Michigan's starting tight end for the foreseeable future. Mike Massey tries, God bless him, but unfortunately isn't as good as the effort he puts forth. Carson Butler, much to my reget, can't stay out of anyone's doghouse and was benched for the game, despite suiting up. Blocking wise Butler is probably the best tightend on the team and he certainly adds an offensive deminision you love, but if Koger can get open like he did Saturday Butler's playing time may go out the window until he proves he can stay out of trouble and in the good graces of his coach.

Greg Mathews: Good and bad day for #13. Bad fumble on his punt return. Great and crucial catches throughout the second half.

Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart: Good game boys. Keep it up.

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

For some reason Shaw's 2 rushes for 45 yards aren't showing up.

Receivers

Defensive Stats

## Player           Solo  Ast  Tot  TFL/Yds  FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 Harrison, B        5    3    8     .     .   .     .      2    .      .     .
49 Thompson, John     4    4    8  1.0/5    .   .     .      .    .      .     .
8A Mouton, Jonas      2    5    7     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
90 Jamison, Tim       4    2    6     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
5A Stewart, C         4    1    5     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .
6  Warren, Donovan    4    1    5     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .
45 Ezeh, Obi          3    2    5     .     .  1-0    .      1    .      .     .
97 Johnson, Will      1    4    5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
55 Graham, Brandon    3    1    4  2.0/12   .   .     .      .    .   1.0/11   .
14 Trent, Morgan      3    .    3     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
67 Taylor, T          2    1    3  1.0/10   .   .     .      .    .   1.0/10   .
3  Brown, Stevie      2    1    3     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
68 Martin, Mike       1    1    2  1.0/9    .   .     .      .    .   1.0/9    .
53 Van Bergen, R      1    1    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
29 Woolfolk, Troy     .    2    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
42 Fitzgerald, J.B    .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
44 Moundros, Mark     .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
92 Banks, Greg        .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
54 Panter, Austin     .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
25 Demens, Kenny      .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

For five minutes on Saturday I was in heaven. I know I was. Clear as day, there it was. Michigan’s new offense was humming along like a choir of angels right before they break into song. Playfully kidding around, as if what they were doing was effortless and just for fun.

Photo Courtesy John T. Greilick / The Detroit News, via multimedia.detnews.com

Freshman quarterback Steven Threet ran the spread to perfection during those first five minutes. Ball fakes, deft runs, even they occasional shake and bake for an extra yard. Martavious Odoms frittered down the field like the little water bug we’d heard he was all summer. Sam McGuffie was our main tailback and ran like he was on air. Then finally, a beautiful ball fake and zone read by Threet turned into a 12 yard touchdown prance, as he walked into the endzone untouched for Michigan’s opening score on its opening possession. I cheered, happy, almost giddy that the spread we’d been promised had finally arrived. Even if it was a week late, I didn’t care. It was marvelous. It was also 7-0 Michigan, en route to a 16-6 win over the Miami of Ohio Redhawks.

If only Michigan could live the rest of the season in those opening five minutes.

From that point on it was a frustrating afternoon. Whether it was Threet overthrowing receivers, a confusing game plan from the coaches, or Sheridan doing his best tree imitation, nothing seemed to work. Easy passes were overthrown or under thrown. Michigan running backs alternated 15 yard sprints with getting dropped at the line of scrimmage or 4 yards deep in their backfield. Any forward pass designed to go farther than 5 yards was banished from the playbook after Threet and Sheridan showed no ability to complete them. The offensive line was performing passably, but took a huge hit when starting left tackle Mark Ortmann left the game with an injured right arm and was replaced by a former walkon.

Even on defense things were spotty. This may be a strange thing to say when the defense limits a team to 252 yards and less than 50 rushing yards, but there were holes evident in the linebacking corps and safety positions. On more than one occasion the linebackers were sucked up into the line of scrimmage for no reason, leaving the corners of the line exposed for first down runs. At the safety position, while I thought Brandon Harrison was one of Michigan’s best players on Saturday, Stevie Brown had his second straight shaky game. Brown repeatedly found himself trailing receivers that were his responsibility only to be bailed out only by an overthrow or the receiver bobbling a sure catch.

It was as if those opening five minutes were there just to taunt us. Despite the promise of those fleeting moments nothing went the way it was supposed to afterwards. Threet was supposed to claim the starting quarterback slot as his own. The linebackers were supposed show continued improvement. The Defensive line was supposed to get continuous pressure. The receivers were supposed to actually catch a ball. The play book was supposed include more than four plays. But all those things didn’t happen.

Despite that, Michigan won. And they produced a win that had some benefits. Michigan showed everyone it is capable of running the ball even though it can’t throw it. Sam McGuffie showed he is, in fact, the real deal rushing for 74 yards on 17 carries. Michael Shaw wowed everyone with two electric runs for 45 yards before leaving with a groin injury. Brandon Minor reappeared from his fumble induced seclusion to fight for one of the best 15 yard touchdown runs you’ll ever see. Maybe even more importantly, the guy that made Minor's touchdown dive possible with a crushing block was... Carson Butler!?

Yes, that is Carson Butler crushing some fool.
Photo via Kirthmon F. Dozier cmsimg.freep.com

Further, Steven Threet showed his feet are not made out of cement or tar. Steve Schilling had, at least on my recollection, an excellent day and was the focus of the Michigan running game. Brandon Harrison broke up a sure touchdown and had a number of hard, outstanding tackles. Jonas Mouton looked fairly competent at linebacker, despite making a couple of errors in his reads. Donovan Warren continues to be awesome on defense even if he’s fairly useless as a punt returner. On the other hand, Boubacar Cissoko is electrifying with the ball in his hands. I can’t wait to see more of him.  So there are positives to take away from Saturday’s game.

However, even with the positives the same questions that followed the Utah game remain to be answered.

Who’s our quarterback? Dunno. Steven Threet appeared to be the best suited quarterback to run the offense, but Rodriguez pulled him toward the end of the first half after Threet’s arm had proven as accurate as a SCUD missile. Even so, it’s not as though Sheridan did anything with his feet or arm that makes anyone think his future is brighter than Threet’s. Even with Threet’s overthrows he managed to avoid putting the Michigan defense on a short field with interceptions or stupid forced throws. More importantly for Rodriguez’ system, Threet looked substantially more mobile than Sheridan has at any point under center. 5 carries for 26 yards isn’t bad. And when you consider the difference in arm strength and potential in the passing game, 5.2 yards per carry out of a quarterback is more than adequate out of a guy like Threet.

Why are we still playing zone against experienced teams and shouldn’t there be a few more blitzes? Your guess is as good as mine. For some reason Shafer likes his DBs 10 yards off the receivers. Maybe he thinks it takes the pressure off his linebackers to react to things they’re not ready to manage. I don’t know. When Michigan brought its linebackers to the line, it left the corners of the line wide open, so perhaps he wanted to limit the ground game, but that is just a guess. Michigan got pressure simply overloaded the Miami line. But when the D Line went mono-y-mono with Miami’s very large line, Miami’s QB had enough time to make a sandwich, as well as air out a couple of bombs against Stevie Brown or Morgan Trent. When faced with more talented receivers, the pressure and the coverage could be problems.

Are we ever going to try a forward pass again? Maybe. Maybe not. Threet had receivers wide open and flat out missed them. At least two of them (an overthrow of Butler on Michigan’s second possession, and a sideline over throw of Hemmingway later on) would have resulted in touchdowns. After Threet’s second sideline overthrow, it was apparent that McGee did not trust his quarterbacks to throw the ball vertically ever again. However, even prior to the three overthrows that banished Threet to the headset, the majority of Michigan’s passes were glorified running plays with the QB throwing a quick 90 degree pass to Odoms or one of Michigan’s other jitterbugs. Until Threet learns not to let his emotions/adrenaline get the best of him, Michigan’s vertical passing game may remain tucked away in the "break glass in the case of 21 point deficit" box.

No matter what the answers are, we’re not going to know them until after Michigan’s matchup with Notre Dame. We’re not going to know whether those 5 minutes of heaven were merely a tantalizing glimpse into what this offense is capable of, or more a freak occurrence more akin to a lightning strike than competency.

Never the less, for five minutes on Saturday, Michigan was beautiful, competent, effective. And those five minutes will have to carry us until Michigan gets off the bus in South Bend this Saturday.