There was a Saturday like this last season in Big Ten football. Where no one in the conference played anybody at all. I think it may have been the same week- the one preceding the start of conference play, so everyone could fatten up with a won and get their confidence up for league play.
Directional Michigan looked pretty bad in the morning games as the Central Michigan Chippewas lost 45-7 to the Michigan State Spartans and the Penn State Nittany Lions crushed the Eastern Michigan Eagles 34-6. The Western Michigan Broncos are giving the Illini everything they can handle though, early in the 3rd quarter.
One game that looked good on paper was the Brady Hoke Bowl: Michigan Wolverines vs. San Diego State Aztecs. Reality told a different story though, as it was also a blowout.
With the 28-7 decision, Hoke became the third coach in Michigan program history to defeat a team that he coached the previous season. Fielding Yost beat Stanford, 49-0, in 1901, while Harry Kipke defeated Michigan State, 17-0, in 1929.
Junior quarterback Denard Robinson again had a stellar running/abysmal passing day as he completed 8-of-17 passes for 93 yards and carried the ball 21 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns. It was Robinson’s third career 200-yard rushing game and matched his career best for rushing touchdowns.
It was Robinson’s seventh career game with multiple rushing touchdowns and his first since scoring two against Wisconsin last season (Nov. 20, 2010). He previously rushed for three touchdowns last season at Penn State (Oct. 30, 2010).
Hoke talked about the Wolverines fast start:
“The kids went out and executed, and I think the first half of the football game probably was our best total team half of football that we’ve played all year. Offensively, they kept possessing the ball, scored a couple touchdowns. Defensively, I thought our guys fought like heck and played well against the run and did a nice job in the transition passing game.”
For more on this game we go to The Michigan Difference
According to our former Wolverines correspondent, H. Jose Bosch, The Michigan Difference is…
“an actual motto the school uses, but alums use it mockingly to refer to the typical Michigan arrogant ass.”
And TheMichDiff.com is essentially UM’s FML, only positive. Here are some of their most recent greatest hits:
Fitzgerald and Hemingway play football for us. TMD.
Glen Rice with Former Governor Palin. TMD.
Where Introduction to Modeling is a class about graphs. That’s TMD.
We don’t even need 3 quarters of football to prove we’re better than Western. TMD.
Seems a little bit like “Chuck Norris Facts” doesn’t it?
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
He does regular weekly radio spots in Chicago and Cleveland and has appeared on live shows all across the world from Houston to New Zealand. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.