The Scoreboard Will Never Know: Michigan 52 - UTEP 17

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There’s nothing quite as fulfilling as a wire-to-wire victory where your team comes out strong and dominates. Relaxation sets in. Stats are padded. Young reserves come in and get experience. The final tallies may trick the casual score-ticker watcher into thinking Michigan did just that.

Alas, they did not.

UTEP 2-Step

And it’s much less fulfilling when it’s well into the 2nd quarter and you are down 14-7 to one of the worst teams in FBS, best known as the alma mater of Tim Hardaway Senior. Michigan ended the game on a 45-3 run, which was nice, and some of those benefits (oh, hello Tommy) were felt. But halftime felt like Week 1 all over again. Only Western would dog walk the Miners if they played, and last week’s dispatching of #11 Oklahoma had given us a glimmer of hope. So in many ways, this felt worse.

The expected dominant run game wasn’t there, and while right tackle Andrew Sprague’s super-late scratch and subsequent reshuffling of the offensive line is an excuse, it is not excuse enough. Toss in two more first-half fumbles lost and the waters are really chummed-up for our future opponents, who will no doubt be targeting the football with every tackle.

photo by frydaddy

But ya, the bright spots were there. Hiter is a beast, and if some consistency can be patchworked out of the O-line, we should be seeing century marks for him each week. There were a couple of Bryce throws and Marsh catches (and YAC porn) that were about as good as we’ve seen in many a year here in old Ann Arbor town…and one absolutely spectacular passing TD from Carr to Moa in mop-up time. Bryce’s celebration with him was pretty great too.

So is the non-conference slate of 2026 a success? On paper, decidedly so. 3-0 is all that matters, with a ranked win that was a 60/40 shot before the season and probably a 20/80 shot after Week 1’s debacle. And it looks like there is improvement in places, flashes of brilliance in others. Buchanan, Marsh, Hiter…these fellas are going to be stars.

Bryce remains a question mark. I think he can make some throws. I think he can take off and change a game with his legs. I’m not yet convinced he can win a game when everyone in the stadium knows Michigan needs him to. And I’m not sure he can avoid the catastrophic error when that pressure is on.

Fortunately, this team is currently led and motivated by a defense that was crazy dominant, especially in the second half. Three games in, I don't know if Michigan has a championship offense. I'm increasingly convinced it has a championship-caliber defense. And maybe that's enough.

Hiter doesn't need 200 yards. Bryce doesn't need 350. They don't need to score 45 every Saturday. Protect the football. Establish Hiter. Get Buchanan and Marsh involved. Hit a couple explosive plays. Make opponents respect the possibility that Bryce can beat them. Get better. Also, stop handing the other team the goddamn football.

3-0. A ranked win. Some emerging stars. No catastrophic injuries. And a whole lot we still don't know. I guess that's about as successful a non-conference schedule 3 games into a coaching regime as you could ask for…or that you should ask for. — Side note: I like Whit. I think he’s going to be good, maybe great. However, and maybe it’s just me, I DO NOT LIKE HIS SIDELINE FACE. I worry that when things go south there’s gonna be a plethora of Mitch McConnell and/or Uncle Leo memes. “I’m an old man, I’m confused!”

Anyway, onward…

Michigan moves on to Big Ten play, where problems tend to be magnified. A sloppy half will lead to a loss. Iowa is coming to town to play some Iowa football. Disciplined, physical, mistake-free…and almost completely devoid of anything resembling an offense.

Go Blue.

Way Back When-sday Was Tired

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September 17, 2005: In honor of this weekend’s return of Fry Daddy Frank, here’s a couple of fellas that looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of the tailgate, but sometimes you just need a nap before your team unloads on a directional school.

Michigan defeated Eastern Michigan 55-0. Chad Henne had 3 TDs and Max Martin had 117 yards and two touchdowns of his own. Game page lives here. Rest of the photos from the day are below.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to 1-11

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It was supposed to be the marquee home game of the season, certainly the non-conference season—the kind of matchup you love as a fan. The Big House return game in a home-and-home series, the kind that typically gets canceled these days to pave easier paths to the playoffs.

Then last week Western Michigan happened: the “controversial miracle,” and what seemed like a definitive failed eye test on many levels. And man, the bottom fell out so fast, and somehow with zero context. First game under a new head coach, new OC, new DC, new everything. Add in a “not-your-daddy’s MAC team” in WMU and those goddamn yellow uniforms. But maybe there’s no excuse for what we watched a week ago, and therein lies the complicated life of anchoring a portion of your life to a group of 18-22 year olds.

Let’s overreact.

Put in Carr. Fire Whittingham. I don’t see another win on this schedule.

The line flipped seven points in the Sooners’ direction. Oklahoma folks were kicking themselves for not planning the pilgrimage to College Football’s Mecca, where the walk-in price had plummeted to $40.

But inevitably, toe met leather at noon, just like Bo would have wanted.

The defense dominated, putting John Mateer in the crosshairs of the Oklahoma torch-and-pitchfork crowd. Should we talk all week about Mateer’s $3 million NIL deal, or should we still talk about Bryce’s? I wonder if Brent Venables would say his patience with Mateer is “infinite?”

And, off-topic from this game…I wonder if Oregon’s program is in “shambles” after losing by 8 to a team with a double-digit losing streak and a spread of 23.5?

Never forget that they hate us because they ain’t us.

On the other side of the ball, Bryce looked far more comfortable under center and used his legs and his receivers as weapons. He showed flashes of brilliance and athleticism against what was supposed to be a top-tier defense.

Bryce is Michigan’s leading rusher after two games.

There were plenty of miscues and stupid penalties. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but combined with the motivation of a media and fanbase telling them that a season was over before it even started, it was enough.

Michigan wins 17-10 over the #11 team in the country.

Let’s overreact.

Everything is fine. Bryce is on a path to greatness. Whit’s got this team clicking.

Go Blue!

Way Back When-sday Says "Get Well Soon, Captain"

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Without a great amount of detail regarding the scare that some of us experienced last Saturday (not the one in the stadium), let me just say that Captain Michigan is doing well and will be back at a tailgate soon. Probably needs to challenge someone to leg wrestling to get the blood flowing upon his return.