Here's a photo that pretty much captures the quarterback depth chart:
Fuller from the Media Day set
Borges is re-teaching Michigan about the magic of throwing this object. Freshman Garrett Moores (15) is utterly confounded by this. Alex Swieca (13) is thinking about how he can get this object to the turf. Cleary is represented only by a noodly arm. Bellomy and Morris stand in the background, tempting yet inaccessible. And then Gardner, who just has SO MANY ideas of what he can do with this brown oblong thing, smiling because he knows physics will only be a mild hindrance.
Reminding again of the Friday, September 6 event featuring Marlin Jackson and MGoBlog. MGoPatio is behind the 2nd house on the right on Berkley. We plan to start gathering around 7pm and Marlin will join us at 8. Still looking for one or two more co-sponsors for that. Free to come with an optional donation to Marlin's Foundation and/or the beer fund.
Leave it to LSAClassof2000 to verbosify a concept as simple as "loss." He compared 3rd down performance (o minus d) to winning and made pretty charts going back to the Year of Infinite Pain claiming he's discovered r-squared's latest favorite win correlation. Let's play…
IS IT MORE TELLING THAN YARDS PER PLAY?
Compare M's yardage differential to 3rd down differential and see when losing the 3rd down battle affected the outcome:
| Opponent | Off YPP | Def YPP | YPP Diff | 3rdDwn Diff | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 7.98 | 2.53 | +5.45 | +14 | W 45-0 |
| UMass | 8.60 | 3.92 | +4.68 | +12 | W 63-13 |
| Iowa | 8.27 | 5.15 | +3.12 | +6 | W 42-17 |
| Air Force | 7.54 | 4.63 | +2.91 | -7 | W 31-25 |
| Minnesota | 6.59 | 3.99 | +2.6 | -3 | W 35-13 |
| Purdue | 5.84 | 3.49 | +2.35 | +4 | W 44-13 |
| Northwestern | 6.76 | 5.46 | +1.30 | -6 | W 38-31 |
| MSU | 5.26 | 4.68 | +0.58 | even | W 12-10 |
| Ohio State | 5.94 | 5.66 | +0.28 | -9 | L 21-26 |
| Notre Dame | 4.53 | 4.78 | -0.25 | +5 | L 6-13 |
| Alabama | 4.80 | 6.84 | -2.04 | -9 | L 14-41 |
| Nebraska | 2.94 | 5.02 | -2.08 | -2 | L 9-23 |
| S Carolina | 4.33 | 8.04 | -3.71 | +7 | L 28-33 |
Hey, whaddaya know: the games when Michigan averaged a half a yard per play or more better than their opponent they won. Third downs mattered in keeping the South Carolina, Northwestern and Air Force games closer than they might have been, and a –9 differential at Ohio State accounts for some but perhaps too little of the 21-26 final score. YPP is still better.
I'm giving Diarist of the Week to Six Zero for his best interview yet, though it should probably go to the interviewee, that champion of Mixed Marital Arts, CRex. The Cliff Notes:
Uh, Michigan? Never heard; not real school.
Stop Ruining a Funny Joke By Being Srsly. Njia wrote a Bleacher Report-y thing collecting crazy coaching moments; I'm only mentioning it because for the last friggin' time the Woody Hayes turtle story is a joke. It's a good joke. It's a very OLD joke. Hayes was insane and yes, Urban Meyer and the truth haven't been on speaking terms for a long time, but this story is an example of neither of those things because it is just a joke.
Etc. In the final episode of the k.o.k.Law miniseries our heroes enter The Dome in Atlanta with a hoops national title on the line. Oh. My. God, Becky, look at Jake Butt.
[Jump for Best of the Board and Zen]
Best of the Board
HUMP DAY HAIKUS
New tradition on the board started by the Shoe: Haikusnedays. Keep it up and I'll plug my favorite here. This week's was by notYOURmom:
Understandably
I'll miss Denard's "WHAA ?" and smile
But bring on DG
1484 then went and started in on Limericks. Hey if you guys can handle those I say go with them. My try:
There once was a team named for fight
Who played Michigan under light
But each time through that door
We would beat them by four.
So they canceled our game out of fright.
ETC.
Please go easier on PSU fans (thread starts with link to Bacon book excerpt)—I've been dealing with a lot of them lately and if you go for their MGoReader equivalents they're contrite and realistic. If you don't have your HTTV yet and you contributed to the Kickstarter, this thread's for you.
Your Moment of Zen:
Bonus: "Fickell Speaks" hangs out on the left the whole time