Maize n Brew gives you your daily (or semi-daily) rundown of all the Michigan Football, Michigan Basketball, College Football, and College Basketball news you need to get through the tedium of your boring desk job. For good measure we'll throw in a little irreverent information, comedy and commentary to help you salt away the time until the clock strikes 5pm. If you want Maize n Brew in 140 characters or less, follow us on Twitter! Or you can friend us on Facebook and become a fan of Maize n Brew on Facebook for more links. Here's what's ON TAP:
Stuff You Must Read Right Now
(Ed: apologies for the late post.)
Watch. Take Pills. Get Happy. - MGoBlog's usually excellent video roundup, because who doesn't want to see Michigan become bowl-elgible for the first time in three years OVER AND OVER AND OVER?
Going Bowling - Obviously the story of the weekend, Michigan is now elgible for the postseason. Pete at AnnArbor dot com rounds up possible destinations for the Wolverines. Also: if somehow M were to beat OSU in the last game of the year, it might make Sparty Rose-Bowl bound. Bittersweet, but that's still a rather small possibility.
Behind the Banner - Great look from the DetNews on the history of the M Club Banner. Very good read if you're curious, and still a very good read if you aren't.
For Tigers Fans and Decent Humans - I know this isn't about Michigan football, but Detroit lost a legend this week with the passing of Sparky Anderson. A nice piece over at the News pays tribute to the former Tigers manager, World Series champ, and Hall of Famer.
More after the jump.
Michigan Football
Sure, Laugh - I think this was the best defensive game M played all year. Easy to say that, right? But they did give up 65 POINTS. Yuck. But they made some plays, including a crucial fourth-down stop. I cannot believe I'm actually commending M's defense when this could have been a 30-point win. But without some stops, M loses this game. Wojo agrees.
DetNews Recap - Some scary stats at the end of this one about defense. Not for the faint of heart. Please ignore the bowling puns this week.
A Lyrical Look at Saturday - The Hoover Street Rag tries to put Saturday to a song. I particularly liked the (SPOILER ALERT) conclusion:
You'll be handsome and you'll be beautiful
You'll be happy
In the end, we're happy. It may not be handsome yet. It may not be beautiful yet. But we're making progress. As we look around us and we see the carnage among the "traditional powers", we're getting back to where we want to be. One step at a time.
Optimism is A Big Wooden Ship - Genuine Sarcastic likes what he sees, and has hope for the future:
And when we finally have a stalwart defense to augment the unceasing Ragnarok that is our offense, all the suffering that we've experienced since 2007 will make it all the better. I'm not one who subscribes to the theory that one game changes everything; that we've somehow turned a corner, but I think we're finally emerging form the darkness. Next year the defense will be improved, and, as scary and as titillating as this is, so will the offense.
And this - despite a few "uhhhs," the offense was fantastic Saturday:
This offense is unstoppable, as I think we showed by putting up 45 points in four quarters and put up wet-dream-inducing yardage totals despite turning the ball over five times. The touchdown pass to Roundtree on the first play from scrimmage summarizes it nicely. Despite his two picks and only 50% completion percentage, Denard put up over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Very good work by our friends at Genuinely Sarcastic, saying what many M fans are thinking.
Big Ten Football
Indiana Blows It - Michigan's favourite opponent loses a chance at knocking off the Hawkeyes (good) and might cost the Spartans a BCS berth. I am very okay with this.
Northwestern Blows It Too - Northwestern somehow lost to Penn State after taking a three-touchdown lead. Paterno gets his 400th win in the process, and the WALK-ON DOOM threw 4 TDs for his second straight win.
Purdue Hangs Tough, Loses By 3 TDs - Those who saw the game say that Purdue came closer in this game than the score indicates. 4 turnovers certainly didn't help their cause versus the Badgers - but Michigan's going to have to work for a win this weekend. So goes the season.
College Football
Offense Headlinin' - SB Nation's recap of some interesting scores and news items from the weekend. I like the point that Denard still had 350+ yards of total offense and was "only" 54% of the offense. Those numbers seem a bit more balanced to me. Hopefully he'll be OK and M can keep it up against Purdue and beyond.
Colorado, We Get It - Colorado squanders a 35-17 lead by allowing 35 fourth-quarter points. I haven't forgotten Kordell Stewart, so I'm completely okay with this, but younger Michigan fans will empathize with the Buffs.
LSU Upsets 'Bama - But Les Miles ate grass. Much more important than the game.
Michigan Basketball
Morgan Solidifies Starting Role - C Jordan Morgan looks to have locked down a starting role within a very young and small M roster. Via AnnArbor dot com.
Michigan Women's Field Hockey
It's Been 1 Day Since Michigan Beat OSU - in women's field hockey, for the Big Ten title! Congrats, ladies.
Incredibly Important YouTube Clip Of the Moment
Featuring your Michigan Marching Band! Hats off to the best performance of the day that didn't score 67.
Very good work, MMB.
Until next Sunday, Michigan faithful. Cheers!