"Someday" Funday: I Got A Rock Part II

Here I am again on the day after Halloween about to write a blog post about two of the most certain things in all of college football, Iowa losing to Wisconsin, and Michigan losing big games under Harbaugh. My happiness directly effects the overall level of material on this site. That being the case, this post is about to be filled with as much quality as an elementary school Christmas concert. Come to think of it, there is no better analogy for what was displayed on the field Saturday by both the Wolverines and Hawkeyes. Here is a quick play back of their performances Saturday.

Holy s*** Saturday was bad.

Lets start with the Wolverines since this game meant more from a national perspective than Wisconsin and Iowa. In the above mentioned Christmas concerts, most kids participating, whether they are singing, playing an instrument, or acting some super dumbed down script of the original, know what they are suppose to be doing. They can conceptualize and probably have seen what the end result should look like when its show time through their past performances in practice. At the moment the lights begin to dim however, and the kids realize that mom, dad and probably grandma or grandpa are watching along with 65 or so other parents, panic sets in. Even if they nail the beginning of the concert in the back of their mind the fear of failure lurks and waits for its moment to come about. Suddenly, one kid makes a mistake, and all of sudden the show unravels into the disaster it was always going to end up being. That is Michigan football under Jim Harbaugh. This team on numerous occasions over the years has led Michigan fans and the national media to believe that they just may be poised to take the next step in the hierarchy of college football. All of the data points leading up to their big moment would suggest that the Wolverines will pass the test ahead of them. The slew of games and performances leading up to this years moment against Michigan. St was equivalent to those practices before the concert. These players know how to win. They know what is asked of them as football players at the University of Michigan. Yet the moment was to big for them once the pressure of the circumstance was realized. That moment came in the 3rd Quarter with the Wolverines up 23-14 and driving into Spartan territory. To that point the Wolverines had done well in controlling the game and had a 3rd and 1 at the MSU 40. A run for 0 yards by Blake Corum set up 4th and 1. Then... the moment happened. A false start from Nick Schoonmaker made it 4th and 6 from the MSU 45. A punt would pin a struggling MSU offense back deep in their own territory but instead Harbaugh took a gamble with a fake punt on a run by the punter and it failed. From that moment on, the air in Spartan Stadium seemed to change. Even after stopping MSU and taking a 30-14 lead immediately afterwards, it looked and felt as though Michigan was waiting for the inevitable failure to happen and sure enough it did. 

There really isn't all that much to dissect schematically. Michigan controlled this game. The offense put up 552 total yards. Cade McNamara proved he could sling it if he had to with a 383 yard performance. The Wolverines dominated time of possession 34:50 to 25:10. This, as it has in almost every big game in the Harbaugh tenure, came down to the moment being to big. As a fan of college football, to see this program continue to fall flat on its face in these big moments is sad to see.

Now onto the Hawkeyes. Going back to the elementary school concert analogy, while most of the kids know what they are suppose to do and just falter in the big moment, there is always a kid who never stood a chance at completing the task at hand. They probably have severe ADHD (me) which doesn't allow their brain to comprehend nor complete the intricate little tasks needed to have even the slightest prayer at succeeding. This child is seen as the glaring issue as to why the concert sucked and makes the parents think of the countless other more productive things they could be doing instead. That child my friends, is this Iowa offense. Lets look at the numbers behind the wretchedness.

Total Yards/Game: 291

Rank: #122

Yards/Play: 4.2 

Rank: #123 

  

Rush Yards/Game 105.2 

Rank: #114

Pass Yards/Game: 186.5

Rank: #101

QB Sacked %: 9.27%

Rank: #112

TFL Allowed/Game: 8.5

Rank: #128

Well....

I'm getting sick (all pun intended) of watching the same outdated crap waltz out onto the field every week and get absolutely mauled by teams who know exactly what's coming. The common straw that has always broken this teams, and every other Iowa teams back under Ferentz, has been an absolutely horrendous offense. The level of defense this program annually trots out onto the field every Saturday would result in a Big Ten West title a MINIMUM of every other year if the offense were simply average! I guess that's to much to ask for however as this is the philosophy of the head coach who has found sustained success for 22 years in Iowa City. Still though, the pains of knowing that possible elite status in the conference is a change or two away is unbelievably frustrating. Hawkeye fans are left only to dream about the moment offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has his come to Jesus moment that brings this offense into the 21st century. I imagine the moment (if it comes at all) will look much like this.

But who am I kidding, every concert needs its problem child.

Now onto the standings. 

There won't be any calling out of bad performances in this article as the first "Ticker" article comes out Thursday. As you can see though, Luke has made another move on Derek for top of the table and Blake continues his sharp ascent into 3rd place. The jostling in the middle of the table also continues with everybody 13th or above having a realistic shot at a championship. In 14th, still with a mathematical chance at the crown is Poods. I'm anxious to see if hitting rock bottom was just what Ethan needed. We will learn much about the character this man has as we hit the homestretch of the season. Poods, we're rooting for you.

As I said, The unveiling of the first "ticker" article is tomorrow where we take a deep dive at some of the analytics driving each players performance thus far. I will also give a "Buy" or "Sell" rating on every player regarding what I perceive to be their chances at winning the league. Feelings will not be spared so be prepared...Brent... As always, WRBL marches on