Michigan's Fitz Toussaint speaks: 'I let my team down, I let my family down' - Toussaint speaks out about his suspension.
"It's been tough, because I let my team down, I let my family down," said a remorseful Toussaint, who has pleaded guilty to a DUI charge stemming from the July arrest. "I'm just trying to build back on everything day by day.
As tough as it was to have Fitz on the sideline against Bama, it really feels like the suspension was the right thing to do by the staff and has had a good effect on Fitz's maturity.
Michigan falls to No. 19 in latest AP poll after Alabama drubbing, Tide now No. 1 - It really isn't easy to tell how good Michigan is after that game because all we really know is that Alabama is really, really good -- and even better at making other teams look stupid. Nineteen is about right for now.
Shucking Schofield pt. 1 || Shucking Schofield pt. 2 - Chris Gaerig breaks down the not so inspiring play of Michael Schofield against the Tide and worries that we might have a problem. Schofield was one of the more steady members of the line a year ago at LG, and he certainly wasn't the only lineman who struggled, but it is disconcerting to see a starting right tackle thrown around like that.
Opponent Breakdown - Air Force Offense Part 1 - The guys at Tremendous have the first of a two part breakdown of Air Force's offense.
Picture Pages: Who Are You Optioning? - There are few things better than an MGoBlog picture page breakdown. Here is Brian on the difference between the inverted veer run by Borges and co. and the one run by Rodriguez.
This is Exhibit A for We Don't Know How To Use Denard Enough. Nick Saban's pretty smart, you guys, and devised a defense that would get the ball out of Denard's hands without that costing his defense a guy. On the first one it's possible a more outward route by Hopkins gets him past the attacking DE, but then that DE flattens out and flattens Barnum; same result. On the second one Omameh would have to orbit around the DE so elaborately that he'd be useless anyway.
Disclaimer before someone takes offense in the comments: This isn't a value judgment between the two staffs, it is simply saying, "hey, look, two football coaches go at running the same play a different way. We're talking football strategy.
Big Ten schedules need an upgrade - From the folder labeled "because, obvi"
It's that new playoff system that is driving the league to schedule more aggressively. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said that he wants conference teams to win the strength of schedule argument when they are considered for inclusion in the four-team postseason event. That was a big key in the league's decision to stay at eight conference games instead of going to nine.
The Alphabetical, Week 1: Alabama, Again - The Alphabetical: required reading.
Because that seems simplistic, um...it is. Strictly theoretical at best, this how-to-beat-Alabama blueprint doesn't even account for the offensive line, the unit that might be the strongest on the team right now. Michigan's d-line, if not obstructed by the bounds of the rules, stadium, and geography, would be in the Gulf of Mexico right now. They would slide through layers of settled oil, and pass through the dark desert plains of the Caribbean's underwater world. Passing a shipwreck, they might wave, and then receive curious glances from sharks passing overhead.