That game yesterday was just beyond frustrating.  I’ve been sitting here all day on Sunday trying to formulate what exactly I want to say but it just comes out a mess and as a giant block of frustration.  Needless to say the Lions game didn’t help my frustrations whatsoever, but at least that was an exciting loss.  At this point, I haven’t even formulated what all needs to be said, but here it goes anyways.

(I’m truly sorry I ever questioned him as a hire…he’s the perfect man for the job.)

First, let me say that nobody hates Notre Dame than me, not even you Kasey King.  And the amount of people blaming Denard Robinson for the loss is utterly embarrassing.  Yes, Denard did have arguably his worst game of his career and it was at a terrible time.  BUT, seriously?  How many games has Denard won for us the last three years? 10-15 games?  I mean, honestly, you want a new quarterback, but do any of you clowns actually realize how much worse this team will be next year?  OBVIOUSLY, Denard has to play better, four interceptions and a fumble is just brutal.  Yes, this team has lived and died by Denard’s play the past three years, and so when the team struggles, you shouldn’t be so ready to toss him under the bus.  Where is the rest of the team?  Denard can’t be perfect every game.  The only way that Michigan is better next year is if the defense is improved, because the offense is going downhill.  After this year, Michigan loses their starting right guard, center, second wide receiver, your #1 receiver moves back to quarterback, and you lose the best playmaker on your entire offense.  Maybe you guys should consider the road ahead before you start whining.

Next year, Denard will be replaced with Devin Gardner, Russell Bellomy or Shane Morris (who is most likely going to miss most of his senior season), WOOF.  Seriously, all of you guys bitch and moan, and sure it would be nice to see him play better, but how many of you sit there and boast about him and praise him after he has a good game?  Then you want to throw him under the bus after a loss and a bad game?  The most disgusting part is that this happens with EVERY single Michigan quarterback.  Everyone bitched and whined about Tom Brady when he was here, then it was John Navarre, then it was Chad Henne and now it’s Denard.  No one is ever happy with the play of a Michigan quarterback; there’s no pleasing you morons.  I’m not sitting here saying that Denard is the best quarterback in the land and that he is Peyton Manning or something.  But you’re fucking ignorant, if you think you will see another offensive player be as big of a playmaker as he is at the University of Michigan.  No offensive player that has ever suited up for the University of Michigan has ever created as many mismatches as him.  The only offensive players you could potentially make an argument for would be Braylon Edwards or Anthony Carter.  And I know that most of the people who will read this don’t even know who Carter is.

(The Braylon Edwards Show)

Sure I’m beating a dead horse here, but you need to accept the fact that yes, Denard is not the best quarterback we’ve ever had, but whining about it or throwing him under the bus will not change that.  And saying, “it’s time to get a quarterback in here” is a retarded thing to say, because by the time Shane Morris is ready to start, it will be two or three years from now.  I know that if you clowns don’t like Denard Robinson, there isn’t a chance in the world you guys are going to enjoy Devin Gardner or Russell Bellomy.  Enjoy Denard while you’ve got him, nobody should have thought we could win a National Championship this year.  It will be literally three more years until Michigan can compete for a National Championship, so learn to be patient or at least think before you speak.  I know it’s tough, I often have trouble with it.

Now onto the game.  The defense played fantastic.  Sure they didn’t make a stop when they needed to late in the game, but if you told me that if Michigan held Notre Dame to 13 points, I would have told you that we would have housed them.  The defensive line could have played a little bit better and gotten more pressure, but I’m not going to complain about the defense.  It’s college football, there will always be missed coverages and blown assignments, which is obviously frustrating and I bitch about it in the moment, but after taking time to let it marinate, holding Notre Dame to 13 points on the road after giving up 25 points and 417 yards to Air Force at home is pretty damn good.  If Greg Mattison can get the defense to continue to improve their performance like this each week as the year goes on, they could be huge for Michigan down the road.

“It won’t happen no more. I’m going to be accountable for the rest of the season. I don’t want to feel like this no more. In the 22 years I’ve been living, this is the most disappointed I’ve ever been in myself.”-Denard Robinson after the game.

Keep in mind Denard knows when he doesn’t play well.  If you want stuff to complain about you should really have focused on this stuff: bad run blocking, bad pass blocking, Fitz Toussaint being incredibly average, and the most blatantly obvious one, garbage play calling.

Seriously, Denard can’t do it himself, but that’s what everyone expects and when he doesn’t you all complain and toss him under the bus.  Where is Toussaint?  He was a 1,000 yard rusher last year; 58 yards in a big game is not going to cut it, especially when they need to give Denard some help.  Our offensive line couldn’t open a hole to save their lives right now, where are the complaints about that?  Where are the complaints about Al Borges running a toss sweep in the red zone like its 1981 and Eric Dickerson is in our backfield?  Where are the complaints about Al Borges running a halfback pass with Vincent Smith after we already failed to capitalize once in the red zone and are already having issues passing?

The play calling was just brutal, and that is a huge inhibitor for Denard.  He can’t be unleashed on a team if he isn’t being used correctly and isn’t being given play calls that suit his abilities.  He has a live arm and can sling it 60 yards with ease, but that doesn’t mean I want him throwing to Devin Gardner on a Go route off play action.  The offensive line is having issues as it is, so why are play action passes being run?  Normally I go to bat for Al Borges, but last night was one of the few times where I was utterly frustrated with the play selection.

Thankfully they have a bye week this week, the offense can use the work, and hopefully they can install some new looks.  I will say this, I was extremely disappointed that they didn’t use more plays like they did early where Denard handed the ball off to Gardner and he threw it up.  With two quarterbacks on the field almost every play, they should put in more looks like this, instead of letting a runningback throw it.  The only good news right now is that they can still win the Big Ten, because this conference looks weaker than it ever has.

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