The Anti-Carr team - Starting QB

Brian of Mgoblog started this wonderful feature, before unfortunately discontinuing it, however he did leave this awesome post about the d-line: http://mgoblog.com/content/anti-carr-team-defensive-line

I'm just gonna cut to the chase and start with what is in my mind the most obvious member of the Anti-Carr team, and that man is of course John Navarre 2001.

John Navarre burst onto the scene in 2000. His first games playing as a rs frosh for the injured Drew Henson were spectacular. In his first game he was 15-19 for 265 yards with 4 tds (Michigan passing record for tds in a game) with no picks. Nice debut kid.

His next game was a solid effort with 3 tds and no picks. Just one problem, this games were against Bowling Green and Rice.

Navrre's first game against a BCS team was just a disaster, an 8-28 performance, in a horrid loss to UCLA.

Unfortunately for Navarre, I think he lost a lot of fan's good will with this game. The next game didn't help his case, he started out terrible against Illinois, luckily for M fans Drew Henson stepped in and lead to team to victory.

And Michigan fans would not have to worry about Navarre until 2002, as Henson would finish out 2000 and return for a glorious senior campaign in 2001.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. Henson bolted for baseball, and Navarre was the default guy in 2001. But hey whats the worst that could happen right?

The 2001 Painful Numbers

Navarre had 4 games of 50% or less passes completed. That is just horrible. Included in this was a game with 58 passing yards. 58 yards passing, a paltry amount of completions, 5.3 yards per completion (yes completion not attempt0 what is this the Ken O'Keefe offense?

The numbers alone do not describe how bad 2001 Navarre is. All that needs to be discribed is the 2001 OSU game.

Really all I should say here is that Navarre was yanked for Jermaine Gonzalez. Who promptly came in, lined up in the shotgun, watched the ball zip past him for an OSU safety. Well that it for Jermaine Gonzalez, he was yanked after the half. I have to mention though, that those 2 free points came with about 30 seconds left in the half. Navarre was sucking so bad that Lloyd tried to have Jermaine Gonzalez do something with 30 seconds left in the half.

Navarre didn't suck as bad in the second half, but it didn't matter as his incredible suckitude put Michigan in such a deep hole that they were playing catchup the whole time.

Navrre's numbers: 21-47 with 4 picks. Oh and 15 of those completions were to Marquis Walker.

This loss at home, to a very mediocre OSU team, was just awful. Michigan as bad as they had been at times in the 2001 season still was leading the Big Ten and only needed to beat OSU to go to the BCS. Unfortunately, this debacle happened and in Tressel's debut at the Big House he gained the upper hand on the rivalry, and he has not let up.


John Navarre 2001, the Starting Anti-Carr team QB.

(All worked out pretty well for Navarre, he improved over his next two seasons, won a bowl game, and beat OSU.)

Bringing it Back

I'm thinking about getting the blog back together. Actually posting stuff. With the excitement of a new coach, new players and new system, by the time the football season rolls around, I'm hoping to actually be posting a few days a week.

Will it work out? Maybe, hopefully.

Quick Final Four take - UNC over KU, UCLA over Memphis. UCLA 75 UNC 71 in the championship game.

Saturday Saturday Saturday

This Saturday at the big house michigan will beat APP State 45-10.

I'm not going to talk about the game anymore than this because Appy state is DIVAA and if Mich doesn't destroy them I will break something.

But here is a brief albiet informative Big Ten Preview:
First my predicted Standings (based on overall record):
11: Minn
10. NW
9. MSU
8. Indiana
7. Ill
6. Purdue
5. Iowa
4. PSU
3. Wisc
2. OSU
1. UM

Player of the year offense - Mike Hart (RB), UM.

Player of the year defense - Dan Connor(LB), PSU.

Frosh of the year - Regis Benn (WR), Ill.

Coach of the year - The Zooker (I think the fighting Illini go 6-6 and make bowl game and that the Zooker will be rewarded with this award).

Onto the national scene:

My Heisman pick - Darren Mcfadden (RB/KR/Wildcat QB), Ark.

My preseason top 10 -

1. USC
2. LSU
3.UM
4. WVU
5. Texas
6. VaTech
7. Louisville
8. Oklahoma
9. Florida
10. Wisc

Guess who's back

Adrian Arrington is back on the team after running steps at 6am for seemingly ever and whatever other secret punishment lloyd decided to dish out.

welcome back A.A. and here's a tip - stay out of trouble!!!!!!

his return gives michigan in my opinion, the best 1-2 bunch at reciever in the big ten with mannigham and arrington.

(thanks to umgoblue for the story)

Ranking the Big Ten

These are my rankings for the teams of the big ten. This has no bearing on who is the best team in the conference, who is the worst, who is alright etc. These are just my personal feelings on all the big ten teams. This is in no way shape or form has any empirical evidence it is just merely my opinion.

1. Michigan (Duh, my fave team in the sporting universe).
2. Illinois (Someone had to be second, their "rivalry" with OSU is a plus).
3. Minnesota (Seemingly harmless except for 2005 win over Mich, but, bonus points for being rivals with Wisconsin and Iowa, additional points for having WR Ron Johnson who was freaking amazing in NCAA 2002).
4. Northwestern (I don't really care about NW, but they were fun to watch with Zak Kustok and Damian Anderson).
5. Indiana (Bonus points for having Antwaan Randle El, and for losing to UM every year).
6. Purdue (Not a fan but not as much dislike as the teams below)
7. Iowa (Don't like 'em at all but like other teams less).
8. Wisconsin (Slighty more tolerable than PSU).
9. Penn State (Can't stand them).
10. Michigan State (My third least favorite team in the universe).
11. Ohio State (My least favorite team in the whole history of the universe).

Note- Notre Dame is my second least favorite team but since they don't have a conference I'll just lump them in as 10b on the list.

Next Up

My next post will cover a crazy and just plain awful game. Mich v. Purdue from 1996. Not only did the coaching for UM suck in this game the QB play did too. I'm not sure who to blame this loss on, I guess it would be the offensive game plan. My logic being that even though UM stunk it up and had a terrible offensive game plan in the 2007 and 2004 Rose Bowls they at least scored a couple of TD's. Mich's 1996 Team may not have been an offensive Juggernaut but this team has way more talent than a crappy Purdue squad.

After reading the game breakdown you can be the judge and decide if the scheme was to blame or if the players just phoned it in.

Look for this game either late tonight or some time tommorow.

Examining a Michigan Debacle: The 1996 Choke-Job at Northwestern

Setting the Stage: UM came into this game 4-0 ranked #6 in the country. NW was 3-1, ranked #22, after losing their first game of the year to a Wake team that finished 3-8. NW beat UM at the big house the year before and was looking for an unprecedented winning streak against the Wolverines.

What Happened?: UM was in control and was up 16-0 starting the 4th quarter. A 2TD lead that required 2 two point conversions to be successful in order to tie, sounds like it should have been an easy win for Michigan. However, it turned out to be a choke-job loss. How did this happen?

Bottom Line: 2 mins into the fourth quarter NW finally gets on the board with a TD run from some guy named Levelle Brown. So what do they do? Go for 2 of course. And of course it is good as D'wayne Bates catches a pass and the score becomes UM 16 NW 8. Now the Wildcats only need a TD and the 2 pointer to tie.

So UM is going to get the ball back and all they have to do is run the ball and kill some time, just eat up 13 minutes and protect the football. Sounds easy. However upon getting the ball back UM decides to fumble on the first offensive play and give the ball back to NW. The debacle is now in full swing.

The Mich defense defies the odds and some how holds NW to a field goal. The score is now UM 16 NW 11. 10 mins and 46 secs remain.

Michigan is going to get the ball back, again all they need to do is kill some time and avoid turnovers. NW needs to score to win and all Mich needs to do is hang onto the football. Somehow the Scott Dreisbach manages to not turn the ball over but without any momentum the Wolverines can't get anything going and forced to punt.

Surprise, surprise the punt is crap! NW gets the ball on their own 40 and a shortfield. Somehow the michigan defense prevents the wildcats from getting a TD instead holding them to a field goal. The score is now UM 16 NW 14. 5 mins and 25 secs remain.

Again Mich justs needs to run some clock and avoid doing anything stupid (which at times has proven to be very hard for the Wolverines during crunchtime). Michigan manages to kill some clock and is now forced to punt.

1:45 remains in the game all NW needs is a fg for the win. However they will need to go at least 50 yards for this to be an easily makeable kick. However for UM the 1996 defense did some foreshadowing of what the 2o05 Mich defense would be like (very porous during the opponant's last drive of the game). NW drives easily to midfield, but Michigan holds. It is now 4-13, now or never for the Wildcats. And Steve Schnurr finds Brian Musso for the first down and the ball is now on the Mich 35 with a minute to go.

It was all academic from here, Mich knew that they had choked, and NW knew they just had to get a few more yards and kick the FG. And that's what happened as NW won on a 39 yarder with 8 seconds to go.

Inside the Numbers: Fumbles - UM fumbled 5 times losing 3 (including that very costly 4th quarter fumble). NW fumbled three times but only lost one.
4th quarter yards - UM gained a whopping 28 yards in the 4th quarter, compared to NW's 172.

Debacle Classification: Choke-job, plain and simple. What else can you call blowing a 16 point lead in the 4th quarter and failing to score a single point (besides Sparty-esque)?

Up Next: 1996 UM 3 Purdue 9

First Matter of Business

Since recruiting is over, and the CFB season is a long way from starting the first thing I want to cover is some of the debacles and crazy losses that have occured under Carr's tenure. There are a handful of losses that seem to defy description but I will attempt to cover these travasties in all their horrible details. Some games that will be covered include: Mich-Oregon 2003, Mich-OSU 2001, Mich-MSU 2001, Mich-Minn 2005, etc., etc.

After covering these bizarre losses the focus will shift to some of the most exciting wins under Carr, and I'll try to keep coming up with new UM football posts until the season nears. If anyone has any suggestions as to some of the more memorable Michigan collapses, choke-jobs, or inexplicable losses from the Lloyd Carr era, leave a message and I'll try to cover the game.

Stay tuned for further details.