Coach Rich Rodriguez has stepped into a bigger mess than he may have realized. The numbers prove he has the skill to take a losing team and turn it into a winning team within one year. He stepped into the role of head coach at Michigan during a year of transition. He lost the primary choice for QB he had to OSU. He ended up with a bunch of guys recruited by Lloyd Carr who were unprepared for a spread offense. Most of these guys are inexperienced freshmen, who have a lot of talent, but not much experience.
So, can we blame Rodriguez for Michigan falling apart mid-game or be glad there are definite signs of improvement?
Seriously, if you went into the Penn State game expecting Michigan to win, it was unrealistic. Michigan held its own while it could, but we saw why Penn has one of the top offenses in NCAA football. It’s hard to beat a team so in sync due to years of working together with a bunch of inexperienced freshman on the field, who still don’t even know how to work together yet. We saw promise in Steven Threet, but disaster when injury took him out of the game. The defense seemed to stop playing football come the fourth quarter. Not even Graham Cracker (Brandon Graham) could take down the offense.
There is a glimmer of hope through all the muddled darkness and roller coaster of potential wins for Michigan fans. Rodriguez never has a losing season twice. He just doesn’t. Not in his entire career as a coach. Every first year coaching his numbers have been bleh. The next year, he’s brought his players out to a winning season. Why can’t the same be true for Michigan?
I know we’ve lost some pretty rough ones. Losing our first MAC game ever hurt nearly as bad as our loss to Appalachian State. Losing to Penn State broke a long record of wins, but this is a turning point for Michigan. That spread offense that trounced all over us in the Appalachian game is making old fashioned football offenses look obsolete. Once we “get” the spread, we’ve shown Michigan has the power to break through. Sam McGuffie and especially Brandon Minor are showing extreme promise under this new system. It’s only a matter of time before Steven Threet (who is actually quite a good runner if given the chance to break out) gets it and is always able to click on with the rest of the offense.
In truth, the biggest problem is getting protection to ensure he has time to throw. That’s a big issue right now. If he’s not connecting, he’s usually being rushed to throw. The defense also needs to always be on. John (Thompson), Obi (Ezah) and the Brandons (Harrison and Graham) can’t always be the ones to make the plays. Some other players need to step up and start showing they can defend the team, too. We’re not seeing that defense we had versus Wisconsin. What happened to them?
So, to answer my question, is it too early to blame Rodriguez? I believe the answer would be yes. He has obviously instilled something into these guys, as seen by early leads versus Illinois and Penn State. Now, he just needs to keep that power going throughout the game. Ultimately, it’s going to be up to these guys to show they have what it takes. Otherwise, there isn’t much of anything Rodriguez or anyone else can do for this team.
What are your thoughts on Rich Rodriguez and Michigan? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.
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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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