Just saw that Manningham is supposed to play today.

I expect the Michigan offense to finally roll up over 40 points again. They'll get 30 of it in the first half, then you won't see many starters. Look for a lot of guys you haven't seen play before.

Ball State will throw, throw, throw. They have practically no running game, so against Michigan it will be even worse. Woodley could break the school single-season sack record today.

Prediction: 45-7

By the way, ESPNU sucks. Nobody has it and Michigan is #2 in the country. I don't care if they're playing a division II team, you put them on local TV.

Unreal that they are not on TV... listening on radio definitely doesn't cut it.

Even worse, ESPN.com's game cast is listing Prescott Burgess as the QB.

Ok, so Ball State has scored more than the 7 I predicted, but all 9 points were allowed by the offense. The D hasn't allowed anything yet. Meanwhile, with 4 minutes left in the first half, Michigan already has over 200 yards rushing. Hart has 84 yards and I wouldn't be surprised if he was done for the day now that we have a 2 TD lead. They're already using Minor and Jackson a lot, I expect them to add Grady to the mix and finish the day with those 3 to prevent Hart from injury. I think Henne will still play the third quarter and try to connect with Manningham at least once. Then we'll see Forcier in the 4th quarter and a bunch of Greg Matthews when they do throw it (which they likely won't very often).

Grady is hurt...not dressed

I just heard them say that on the radio. Hart has just scored and is well over 100 yards. With it being a 3 score game at this point, I would now be truly shocked if we see him anymore. So with that, I think Lloyd has enough confidence in Minor and Jackson to run the ball the rest of the game. With any luck Carlos Brown would get some carries as well. I thought he would be more of a factor this year than Minor. Interesting how things change. I still think Brown will be a factor, but Minor is proving to be one heck of a back.

Wow. While I don't think Ball State legitimately has a chance to win this game, that last drive tells me that Michigan is not anywhere close to ready for Ohio State. play like that will leave them very susceptible to Indiana, not just Ohio State.

a gay performance.

We got outcoached. win lose or draw we got out coached. dude knows our team well so its not like he's a nobody. but he outcoached loyd.

We just did not show up to play, that's all there is to it.

It definitely sucked to have a game like that, but I'm hoping that this game wakes us up and re-focuses the Big Blue and prepares us better than a huge blowout would have for November 18th.

Close one guys, glad you got the win. Funny sig Gutz.

How do you outrush a team by over 300 yards, throw for a TD, only turn the ball over once and yet you need to intercept a hail mary to preserve a win over a MAC team?

Answer: While Manningham played, they didn't get the ball to him. Supposedly the safety kept coming over to double him. Doesn't that leave someone else in man coverage? I guess it kept the D from stacking to stop the run, which was dominant, but you HAVE to convert better than that.

Answer #2: The nation's most dominant front 7 couldn't finish off plays in the backfield. The QB had time to throw the ball away to prevent a number of big losses. Meanwhile, there were some dumb penalties in there.

Answer #3: 9 points allowed by the Michigan offense. That can't happen.

What does all this mean? The front 7 needs to figure out some way to finish off QB's better or Troy Smith will be licking his chops.

don't be fooled. ball state had a good game plan. one thing i will say is that those deep plays messed us up and made us give up too many underneath plays. i didn't like that at all. troy smith will have to make quicker reads than he wants to if we contain his mobility and pressure him. when he has all day he can torch anybody, but if you cut that down he becomes much easier to deal with.


it seemed that the deep ball threw us off. if we aloow that against osu. it'll be curtains.

on another note, wtf at OSU damn near letting the illini catch them.:inquisitive:

OK, as I left The Big House yesterday, I was very frustrated like most Wolverines. But the more I thought about it, and after I listened to Lloyd Carr's press conference, I wasn't mad at all. Here are my reasons.

REASONS NOT TO FREAK OUT ABOUT THE BALL STATE GAME

1. Michigan WON THE GAME!

2. Michigan is now 10-0!

3. Michigan put up 507 yards of total offense!

4. Michigan ran for 352 yards! Hart had 154 yds and a TD, Minor had 108 yards and a TD, and Jerome Jackson had 68 yards and a TD.

5. Michigan held Ball State to 47 yards rushing and is still the #1 rush defense in the nation!

6. Michigan basically used this week and game as their bye week. They practiced without pads the majority of the week in attempt to get healthy.

7. Michigan played their backups for the majority of the game. The second team defense was on the field for all of Ball State's big plays. Hart got some rest, Burgess could have played in the second half but didn't, etc.

8. Due to the rest the starters/injured players got, Michigan will be as healthy as they've been since week 1. Manningham will start next week, Ecker, Massey, and Burgess will all be back and ready to play next week.

9. Michigan had a hard time getting up and motivated for the Ball State game and were a little unfocused. Human nature.

10. Michigan ran an ultra vanilla scheme on offense and defense so they didn't show anything to the Buckeyes. Just did what they had to do (with backup cats) to beat Ball State and come away healthy.

11. Two mistakes by the offense led to 9 free points for Ball State. (unfocused) The defense did not give up the points. Now these turnovers are out of their system and we don't have to hear about Hart's fumbleless streak anymore.

12. Manningham was able to get back onto the field and make a few cuts and got used to the game again. Lloyd said they didn't really gameplan to get him the ball, just wanted to get him 8-10 snaps and make a few cuts. He'll be ready to go next week.

13. Michigan's first team defense closed the door on Ball State with a goal line stand when they had to.

14. The coaches will have plenty of things to say to the players this week about staying focused and taking it one game at a time. The players will now realize they're beatable if their heads aren't into the game.

Bottom line-Michigan got the win, is 10-0, #2 in the polls and the BCS, they're the healthiest they've been in a long time and will be ultra-focused for the next 2 weeks. Indiana better look out!

10 down, 3 to go!

GO BLUE!

right.

we didnt lose the game. thats all there is to it. if we lose at OSU, this game hurts us. but if we lose at osu, i think we deserve whatever we get from the polls. i want all the marbles on that game.

ps talk about the game of the year. detroit has never had a better/worse year of sports, i'd bet. we've had 3 frontrunners come up short (each getting closer than the last). if michigan doesnt get this done, i dont know... might be time to go to a shaman to get the curse off.

7. Michigan played their backups for the majority of the game. The second team defense was on the field for all of Ball State's big plays. Hart got some rest, Burgess could have played in the second half but didn't, etc.


This is what I was wondering since I couldn't watch the game. If that's the case, I'm not too worried at all. I can't wait for the OSU game. Can't wait.

Only concern is Burgess and his status.

This game was a great game to get the younger guys some experience.

Worried....I hear the confidence is very high in the Fort, other than Burgess.

I just hope they learn from it and take Indiana seriously. Yeah, the Hoosiers got embarrassed this weekend but they have big play capabilities and that's the defenses weakness.

Lloyd said the Burgess injury wasn't very serious and probably could have played, but basically said "we were playing Ball State, so we didn't see the need to play him and risk making the injury worse".