It should have come as no surprise that Kansas State trounced Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. K State is a little better than average, while UM likely wouldn't have gone to a bowl at all, save for the patsies they always schedule at the beginning of every season. At that, they probably should have lost a couple of THOSE games. Despite what rah-rah head coach Brady Hoke may continue to bluster, Michigan football has not only become a sorry state of affairs -- they've gotten downright wimpy.
For what seems like forever, UM has always prided itself on its offensive line and had featured running backs. Sure, the passing game is crucial, but by god, they're also going to run the ball and dare the other team to stop them. So why was it in the BWW Bowl they tried all kinds of gimmick plays like double reverses, but never attempted to run between the tackles? Even the old days of three yards and a cloud of dust were better than what they had to offer against K State. It's almost like they were afraid to run. And somewhere, Bo Schembechler rolled over. What kind of pansy football is this? No wonder they got blown out.
The story of Michigan starting QB Devin Gardner seemed to morph every day -- towards the wimpy side. First, it was reported Gardner injured a toe during the Ohio State game. Yet he would stay in that game to lead his team to 3 more touchdowns against the Buckeyes. It couldn't have been that bad. That was a month ago.
Then it was said Gardner somehow "aggravated" that same injury last week during practice, so he couldn't play in the bowl game.
Hey, this was supposed to be a sore toe. So why was Gardner seen hobbling along the sidelines on crutches wincing in pain during the bowl game? Oops, the story got updated. Gardner had a broken foot all along. How convenient. But if that were the case, then how did he run around like he did at the end of Ohio State game, and what was he doing practicing last week? To boot, why spend the bucks to fly the dude all the way to Arizona just to hobble around on crutches? If he's hurt that bad, shouldn't he be in rehab somewhere? I smell something very fishy and/or pansy style about all this, but that appears to be what Michigan football has devolved into. A lot of hype, but when it's time to get it on -- not much substance. Sometimes downright wimpy.
Methinks the Maize and Blue faithful should brace themselves for a few not-so-good things. You can continue to get all the 4 and 5 star recruits you want, but if you're defensive scheme has become the equivalent of a screen door on a submarine, then chances are the other teams are going to continue to score a lot of points against you.
Blue chips or not, when your team is afraid to run the ball between the tackles -- the other teams will quickly figure this out, and that doesn't bode well either.
Brady Hoke was not, is not, and will never be the one to lead you back to your glory days. The man is probably the only head coach in the whole country that doesn't wear headphones, ferchrissakes. That means he can't communicate with his offensive and defensive play callers, so he has no clue what's about to happen next on any play, in any game. This is not a good sign.
And don't look now -- but that "little brother" down the road in East Lansing has quickly grown up to be big and tough enough to likely kick your butts in the near future. Not to mention that pesky Urban dude in Columbus that seems to have a way of putting really good teams together.
Speaking of which, an idle thought. Brady Hoke's continued dissing of Ohio State by referring to them as merely "Ohio" is old news. Betcha he never tries the same tactic with MSU. If he left the "State" off their name -- then it would become....
No, the pansy thing is bad enough. That would probably be a dumb idea, even for the hokey-pokey man.
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