ND/Michigan Preview

Before I start on this preview, I wouldn’t feel right completing this blog entry today without at least giving a short bit of space to the victims and heroes of 9/11. It is hard to believe that the Towers fell eight years ago. Every time this date rolls around, my memory jogs back like it was yesterday — I indeed will never forget.

Now I go from somber remembrance, to insulting Michigan and previewing the game…what a switch to say the least.

I often get asked by friends not associated with ND which rival is the biggest. The answer is always USC — if we can take them down, it can redeem even the worst season; however, despite my hatred for SC, there is still a slight amount of respect for what they can do on the field. There is a level of respect between the two to a point and both teams realize the historical impact of the game.

Michigan, however, gains nothing but intense hatred from me. There is a good reason I own only a single shirt that has the colors of Maize and Blue — with the words Muck Fichigan proudly displayed on the front. There is a reason losing to them infuriates me more than a loss to USC. I can’t stand Michigan — period. The Blue-Gray Sky probably has the best run down of why:

Interestingly enough, despite the proximity — Ann Arbor is just a scant 175 miles from South Bend — Notre Dame and Michigan aren’t really the dominant rivals in each other’s worldview. Notre Dame has its traditional, and longer-running rivalry with Southern Cal, and Michigan’s stalking horse has always been Ohio State. That’s not to say ND-Michigan is taken any more lightly by its fans; on the contrary, the emotions run just as high. But the matchup is special: I would say that Michigan and Notre Dame are less rivals and more Enemies. Bitter, bitter enemies.

…

A quick look at the history books reminds us why the Skunkbears have a wing unto themselves in our Hall of Shame. Shortly after the halcyon days of 1887, when players shared the game in a collegial competition, you tried to kill us. Once Notre Dame beat Fielding Yost’s “point-a-minute” champions (after 8 consecutive losses to the Wolverines), Yost took the fledgling Irish program off Michigan’s schedule. The humiliation ran deep; as if simply dropping the Irish wasn’t enough, Yost fought tooth and nail to keep the burgeoning ND program out of the powerful Western Conference, worried that the upstart immigrant school would damage the reputation of what is now the Big Ten. Yost blackballed us, and encouraged others to do the same; for 34 years, his cowardice was enshrined in UM’s schedule for all to see. Like a deranged, Munchausen-by-proxy mother (look it up), you tried to smother us in the crib when our program was in its infancy. Fear of Notre Dame was a powerful talisman, institutionalized by Yost, and the cowardice and consternation towards Notre Dame oozes out of Ann Arbor even to this day.

Yost was but the first in a litany of men of low character to hold the reins at UM. Fritz Crisler’s “bias” (ahem) toward ND is well-known, and, like his predecessor, again dropped the Irish from his schedule for thirty years after a loss. Bo Schembechler sat idly by, for years, as three different Irish coaches won National Championships, while he was busy losing Rose Bowls; Bo was driven crazy with the notion that ND might enter the Big 10 and end his biannual trips to Pasadena. Gary Moeller was frustrated that he couldn’t pick Notre Dame up, drink it, and then drive into a ditch. These also-rans were over-shadowed by true coaching legends just down the road from them: legends like Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, and Holtz, who racked up championship upon championship as Ann Arbor stewed.

In the end, perhaps we do owe the Skunkbears a few more tokens of thanks. If Yost hadn’t taken his ball and gone home, perhaps we would now be in the Big Ten, and our idea of football excellence would entail two or three losses per year and a trip to the Rose Bowl twice a decade. But instead, you blackballed us, and tried to choke us out of existence. You should have finished the job. We survived, and because too many teams were under Michigan’s villainous spell in the Midwest, we were forced to look elsewhere to find quality opponents. And we did. We scheduled and played the nationwide champions of the day: Army, Southern Cal, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and many others. We criss-crossed the country, we were Rockne’s Ramblers, taking on all comers, what tho’ the odds. In doing so, we won national acclaim, respect, and the hearts of countless Americans. It was Michigan’s attempt to stamp out a budding rival that created the nation’s most popular and successful football program, the University of Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish.

This is why we don’t approach the Michigan game with the same tradition-laden respect, the pomp and circumstance, or the “contest of equals” honor reserved for the Southern Cal game. Rather, like Inigo Montoya closing in on the six-fingered man, we come with a singular focus. We are Notre Dame Football. You tried to kill us. Prepare to die.

And it isn’t like that line of thought has died either. Michigan and most of its fans seem to have this idea that ND needs Michigan more than Michigan needs us (neither school “needs” either). They wonder why we play them season after season, and try to make loads of excuses for how they should “better” their schedule by playing someone else. It even got to the point were a Michigan fan, at the ND/USC game — in full Michigan gear no less (I have NO idea why), said the following in an argument to a ND fan when academics and a woeful graduation rate of the Michigan football team was brought up (especially amongst African-Americans, it hasn’t gotten much better either): “I have no idea what you are talking about. Michigan is by far a tougher institution to get into than Notre Dame.”

Nope, I was not drunk and I didn’t mishear it. It was actually the one time that I agreed with a USC fan as he popped off immediately afterward that the Michigan fan had clearly lost his mind. Now I know Michigan is far from an academic slouch for the normal student, but to say being admitted to ND is easier just blows my mind (and that of a USC fan too).

The point is, finding respect around Ann Arbor or Michigan fans for ND is like finding a needle in a haystack. Irish fans have traveled to the Big House to be greeted with such original taunts as “F*#k the Irish”, “Shove those Lucky Charms up your ass”, and “Rudy sucks” (the last of which I responded to a Michigan fan “That’s the point you idiot” and got the most priceless look on his face in response). I also can’t fail to mention having friends being bombarded with empty beer bottles while tailgating peacefully in Ann Arbor as well.

Classy folk, lemme tell ya — there is a good reason I sing a ever so slightly edited version of “Hail to the Victors” whenever I hear their fight song played.

So why bring this all up in a preview for tomorrow’s game? Because if you don’t think both teams bring said chip on their collective shoulders, you are missing a major aspect of this game. The very nature of the hatred between the two teams has led to some rather unpredictable outcomes. Despite a woeful season in 2004, the Irish, fueled by a 38-0 loss to Michigan in 2003, upset the Skunkbears in South Bend. Likewise, in 2006, Michigan put to rest any talks of a national title by coming into South Bend and beating the crap out of the heavily favored Irish.

You never know what will happen in this game, and that is the most important thing that should come out of any preview of this early-season grudge match.

However, it seems Michigan is rather confident that their beating of Western Michigan has them well prepared for the Irish:

So Warren’s day was… interesting. Argh Michael Floyd?

Short of being totally awesome in all ways I thought Warren’s day was as encouraging as it could be given the three penalties and a couple plays that came at his expense. His game looked like that montage in a superhero movie where the hero performs a slapstick routine of smashing cars, punching through walls, and burning innocent pedestrians to death before he gets a handle on his newfound powers. Warren was hyper-aggressive in his first game free from bone chip soup in his ankle; the results were mixed-to-encouraging.

Plays marked “Warren” above:

  • Busts up long route with bump; has better position than the receiver.
  • Good position on a third and four slant that was fired too high and hard.
  • Thumps ball loose on a hitch. (Or, at least, helps a receiver who was already dropping the ball finish dropping the ball.)
  • Leaves two hitches open on Michigan’s soft pre-half drive.
  • Immediate tackle on hitch.
  • Running a guy’s route for him and going to be in position to intercept when receiver trips him (not in a penalty sort of way).
  • Running almost inside a guy’s jersey and gets called for interference, which I think is a crappy call.
  • Gets deserved PI on a slant he was too aggressive on.

So… yeah, Warren had a couple incidents where Michigan gave up yards but the bulk of his day was running Juan Nunez’s routes for him. Sometimes this got flagged and once he got tripped. But I’ll take that sort of aggressive clamp-down coverage any day when the opponent is Michael Floyd. If Warren ends up a yard in front of Floyd the three to thirty times Notre Dame attempts to hit him deep, Michigan’s going to be in good shape.

What happens when Notre Dame goes to three-wide?

Nothing. Michigan spent the entire day its base set and has no corner depth. They do have guys on the edge who can cover Robby “That’s Racist” Parris or whoever; it’s not like Notre Dame’s backup WRs are speed demons.

…

What does it mean for Notre Dame?

I’ve sort of gone from thinking this is a bad matchup for Michigan to thinking it’s an okay one or even good. Stick Warren on Floyd and Cissoko on Tate, give them deep halves help, spare the blitzing and let Michigan’s diverse and sundry rushers attack the Notre Dame defensive line… I can see this working out. The prospect of a max-protect bomb still worries given what happened against Western, but if Warren’s as ready to live up to the five-star hype—and he looked far more likely to in the Western game than any other to date—and Michigan can get away with shifting the coverage over to Tate and pulling up a safety into a robber zone to bracket Rudolph, I like Michigan’s chances to hold Notre Dame into that 20-24 point range where victory seems a strong possibility. Notre Dame’s run game has always been a finesse sort of thing heavy on screens and draws, which plays into the hypothetical strengths of Michigan’s slimfast defense

I watched the Nevada game and a lot of ND’s first half production was based on exploiting Nevada’s “explosive pass rushers” at defensive end, which rushers also happened to be completely irresponsible. Graham isn’t likely to be as exploitable, but Roh or Herron might be. I’d line up Graham on the strongside, which might induce ND to have Rudolph stay in to block, as they’re going to double him lots anyway.

The key will be the safeties. Woolfolk is going to have to think deep first and not get caught flat-footed like he did on the Western touchdown; if Michigan loses to Notre Dame because of ND’s ground game, well… that will be a surprise.

(Note: Bold emphasis is not mine, it is that of the original author)

I post that little breakdown because I find it rather humorous that Michigan staying in a base set will be sufficient to cover our passing attack, no less by saying that a young corner should be able to shutdown Floyd based on his Western Michigan performance (which, honestly didn’t seem that great from the breakdown). It isn’t like Floyd proved he could preform against pretty much every secondary he faced last year, nope, not at all. Also humorous is that the author here is so confident in Warren’s play that he can easily see Warren taking Floyd on by himself, a safety being used to cover Rudolph, slide double coverage to Tate, and still stay in the base formation and have a LB cover Karma/Parris.

I sure hope Rich Rod believes this as well because I can’t for the life of me see that working at all. Even if Michigan must stay in their base defense, Michigan will be dependent on strong safety play to contain the Irish passing attack. Tate burned their secondary last year on a couple different occasions and Floyd, is…well just Floyd and is in some other world right now.

I also have issue with the view of the running game. While we do employ draws and screens, I saw a lot more of a straight up running attack against Nevada and I can’t see why we’d abandon that against Michigan. While I agree that ND won’t be able to beat Michigan on the run alone, I don’t think it should be as easily shaken off as in years past. I will say though that I do fear the Michigan front seven much more than Nevada, so the running game will indeed have to step up, especially considering Hughes is now taking over for an injured Aldridge and playing FB for the first time in his career.

Enough about the offensive side of the Irish, what about the defense?

First off, we are facing a similar style of offense as we did against Nevada, and this time with much more speed. Rich Rod’s teams have a habit of clicking in his second season, and it looks like that may indeed be happening again. Simply put, this isn’t the pistol offense we saw last week nor is it the spread option we saw last year.

If there was one weakness in the Irish defense last week, it was on the ground. While there weren’t any huge plays given up by the Irish, I do have some concern of what Michigan will be able to do with an offense that I believe has more speed than Nevada overall. Blitzes are going to have to hit home hard and quick or said blitzers may soon see the back of a Michigan jersey going the other way.

The Irish need a big road win, something that really hasn’t happened since the Irish last won in the Big House in 2005. This game will set the pace for the season, and the Irish simply cannot afford to lose this game as I think the deflation could end up being catastrophic for the season. The Irish still need to pay the Skunkbears back for the trashing they got in the Big House in 2007 — the win in 2008 was nice, but let’s be honest, Michigan handed the Irish that game on a silver platter. This is a game where the Irish need to make a statement.

In the end, I think Michigan’s weak secondary will eventually be their undoing. The seemingly improved ND O-Line should be able to hold off the initial pass rush, and I think Jimmy finally has the presence of mind to find the hot route on any blitzes Michigan may through at him. While Michigan will score against the Irish defense, I just can’t see it being enough. While the Skunkbears’ offense might be improved, it is still a young offense that has not yet faced a good defense, and make no doubt, ND proved their defense does indeed have something these season after blanking Nevada.

Final Prediction: ND 28 – Michigan 20

Go Irish! Beat Michigan!

Dallas Cowboys Season Preview

This time last year, Hard Knocks was showing the Cowboys off to the world, complete with the attitude and thought that the Cowboys had a one-way ticket to the Super Bowl, and Valley Ranch was making arrangements for the shipment of their 6th Lombardy Trophy. Then just a couple months later, Pacman got into a fight, T.O. was yelling at everyone on and off the field, Romo broke his pinkie, and the Cowboys started their downfall that would leave them out of the playoff picture.

Funny how humbling a NFL season can make you.

Now on the heels of a draft that was called “dead” by Todd Archer today on the Ticket’s “Ranch Report” (and for good reason, the biggest impact will be a kicker…ouch), the Cowboys go into this season trying to pick up the pieces of 2008. There are no Super Bowl projections at the Ranch this time around; in fact, things have been rather quiet all around…well save for the $1.2 billion dollar stadium that is now the Cowboys home…

So what will this season have in store for the ‘Boys this time around? Will they, like Notre Dame last season, break their postseason winless streak? Or will we have yet another season of failed execution, excuses, and yet another miserable December swoon? I’ll attempt to hit some of the keys for the Cowboys season as well as try to make a season prediction. And then, come January, I can link this post in another entry we can all laugh as I am dead wrong on everything.

The Circus Has Left Town

The biggest change this season has been the attitude of the team, and no, I don’t mean Wade going up to the podium like an idiot, trying to be a hard-ass and saying “It’s time for football!”

No, this time around Jerry has decided to remove any player that either was, or had the potential to be, a major problem and distraction for the team. Gone now are T.O. Owens, Adam “Pacman” Jones, Tank Johnson, Roy Williams (the safety), and Greg Ellis. The first three are rather obvious for either dividing the locker room (T.O.) or off the field issues (Pacman and Tank). With Williams and Ellis though, the issue was slightly different. In Williams case, not only were the Cowboys tired of seeing him about 10 yards behind a receiver, but also his blasting the media for pointing it out. Ellis has been a contract negotiating nightmare recently as he couldn’t quite handle having a diminishing role with the Cowboys and made it known quite often (enjoy the Raiders buddy, also, try to avoid being pancake blocked by a QB in the future).

The message delivered this offseason has been rather simple: if you have any potential of being a headache, be one for another NFL team (or in Pacman’s case CFL, or well, any league/team crazy enough to take that mess on).

While this has done wonders for training camp and the preseason not being filled with tons of ridiculous stories or questions about T.O.’s bike riding habits, the removal of potential distractions will not equal an automatic cure for the team. Mike Rhyner of the Ticket’s Hardline has it right. Getting rid of distractions such as T.O. is only about 50% of what’s wrong with this thing. There is something to be said for Romo being able to have an easier time commanding the huddle without the shadow of T.O. looming, as well as not needing to worry week to week whether or not Pacman will make it rain at a local strip club.

The chemistry of the team will definitely have a marked improvement; however, there are a couple of other more important keys to this season’s success.

For the Love of God, BLOCK SOMEBODY

Someone needs to explain how we have a single Pro Bowl player on this line. I went into looking into some of the reasons for the infamous “December Swoon” of recent years. Romo tends to take much of the blame for this, but let’s take a look at the sack numbers (with Romo in as QB) month by month:

Month 2006 2007 2008
September DNP 6 3
October 4 5 4
November 4 5 1
December 13 8 12

Those ever so slight increases in sacks in December may just be a little bit of the problem. While 2007 wasn’t as bad, you may also remember that year the ‘Boys didn’t do so bad themselves going 2-2. As I said before, I think I’m noticing a pattern here. It is hard to win games when your best player is on his back half the game. Keep in mind these are only the numbers of how often Romo was sacked and not how often he was hit as well.

If the Cowboys are to improve in 2009, it all starts up front. Romo has been getting sacked far too often and our running game hasn’t been exactly what I’d call stellar recently either. If the line continues to be Swiss cheese, expect yet another December Swoon.

The Romo Friendly Offense

A lot has been made about there being a Romo friendly offense this time around. What does that mean exactly? Balance. Again let’s use the past three years (the start of the current Phillips/Garrett era) and check out the spread of play calling in comparison to the rest of the NFL:

Year Rushing Attempts (NFL Rank) Passing Attempts (NFL Rank) Percent Pass Plays Run
2006 472 (12) 506 (20) 51.7%
2007 419 (21) 531 (18) 55.9%
2008 401 (25) 547 (8) 57.7%

Saying that this team has been relying on the pass increasingly year after year is an understatement. The offense has been leaning on Romo to score points. The running game must not only improve this season, but become a more prominent part of the offense.

The term “Romo Friendly” to me is two fold. First, the offense is not dependent on Romo to try to create/force pass plays and have more balance. Second, Romo isn’t forced to try to feed T.O. the ball in attempts to shut him up week after week. Like I said before, T.O. is 50% of the issue. With a more balanced offense, Romo should have a much better season as balance will keep a constant pass rush off of him and discourage teams from sitting on pass all game long.

A balanced offense is even more crucial this season now with the departure of T.O. As much as I love to bash him, he was a TD machine and major deep threat, and now he is gone. Of course Roy Williams is supposed to fill in, but he has yet to show he can be the kind of threat that T.O. was. Plus, if Williams is doubled this season, what happens to the passing offense then? It will be just like when T.O. failed to escape the double coverage himself, leaving Witten as Romo’s main option. While Witten is a great option to have, as great as he is, he won’t exactly be burning the defense on a deep route very often.

The rushing attack must step up and Marion Barber and Felix Jones must have big seasons for the Cowboys to have any shot at the playoffs.

The Predictions

So with all that being said, what do I see as the end result of this season? In looking at the schedule I can see either a 9-7 or 10-6 season. At best, the Cowboys will be looking to fight for a wild card spot once again this season as I simply can’t see them topping the Giants (even if they did lose Plaxico Burress) in the East with that record.

If they do make the playoffs though, I do believe this will be the year the playoff winless streak does end; however, that is all that will happen. This team is only good enough this season to take a first round victory. Beyond that, there are just simply too many teams in the NFC that will be able to beat them. Ending the streak will be enough to drive the one needed win, but after that, reality will quickly set in.

As far as this week’s game against Tampa Bay goes, I am looking for the Cowboys to win. The Bucs are simply in shambles right now. When you fire your offensive coordinator before week 1, you have issues. The Cowboys are already the better team on paper — there is literally no excuse to lose in week one.

Nevada’s Pistol Shoots Blanks in Irish Shutout

I figure it would be wise to breakdown the Irish’s home opener sometime before they travel to the Big House to take on the over-practicing Wolverines. Somewhere in there I may want to preview the Dallas Cowboys season too before they kick off against Tampa this Sunday…

Anyways, I digress, back to the Irish and their 35-0 shutout of Nevada, and now their subsequent ranking as the #18 team in the nation. While a win is a win and the fact I’m definitely happy with their performance, what exactly have we learned about the Irish?

Obviously Nevada isn’t exactly one of the stronger teams in the nation, nor one of the strongest teams in the schedule. I’m sure every Irish fan attempted to have a ND basher remind us that “it was just Nevada” despite the fact that there were definitely quite a few people around the nation thinking an upset wasn’t out of the question. However, Nevada isn’t exactly a 1-AA pushover. They still boasted quite a potent offense as they ranked #3 in rushing offense last season — and I don’t care who you play, that is damned impressive (and they managed to rip off 153 yards against ND).

Point is, they were the type of team I saw that could most definitely score on the Irish. In fact, it was something I was expecting. I figured this would be a game in which the Irish would simply prove to be too hard for Nevada’s 119th ranked pass defense to defend in a potential shootout. I’m not sure what the over/under was for this game, but I would’ve definitely been quite confident somewhere between 50-60 points would’ve been put up by both teams. To say I was shocked by the defense pitching a shutout is an understatement.

And that’s probably the first thing I can say we learned about the Irish: the defense looks good.

The Irish simply gave up no big plays, and put good pressure on Nevada in the backfield. The Irish were able to rack up two sacks, and hopefully seeing blitzes hit home more often like this will be the norm this season. The Irish also caused three turnovers…well really, I’ll say the two INTs were their doing, the one fumble was one of the worst option pitches I’ve ever seen, but kudos to the defense for hopping all over the ball.

On the other side of the ball, things are a little bit more cloudy. I really don’t know how ready I am to say the offense will be consistently good for us. Oh sure, Clausen had an outstanding game going 15-18 for and having that translate into video game numbers of 315 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT (again, that’s on just 15 completions!) and the Irish had 178 yards on the ground, but this happened against one of the worst defenses we will likely see all season.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to take away what the Irish did on the offensive side of the ball at all. My main point here is that I’m not exactly sure how these numbers and performances will translate over to some of our tougher defensive opponents. What I will say though is this: the Irish did what was expected, taking care of business and blowing out an inferior opponent and for that you have to give them all the credit in the world.

Clausen looked much improved. His three incompletions were never in danger of being picks. His passes were only where his receivers could get them as well, and not only that, he often had them in spots where they could continue running.

The offensive line made me very happy. Clausen had all day in the pocket and they opened up some fairly decent holes for the running game. When every run seems to be about 4-6 yards, it is hard to complain and that is something I’ve been dying to see. If you are the superior line, you have to throw your weight around and let the other team know it. Failing to run the ball and relying on the pass against sub-par teams is just asking for trouble more often than not.

To close on the offensive side of the ball, I just have to say Michael Floyd is simply the man. When you can win a jump ball, take a hit, stay in bounds, and then torch everyone on your way to the endzone, you are simply on another level than the rest of the field. I can’t believe this kid is only a sophomore.

On the note of young players, Mantei T’eo seemed to be ever so anxious to play. I have not seen a ND player hit someone so hard in a long time. His biggest hit may have been on a failed screen play late in the game, but it sent a message to everyone, fans included. The second string defense in at the time fed off of it the rest of the game, the fans were buzzing about it, and Nevada’s poor running back was probably wondering were he was. If Weis wants a “nasty” football team still (and I hope he does), T’eo should be the poster child with the intensity he brought to the field.

All around it was a great open to the season and I cannot wait for the Irish to face off against Michigan this weekend.

So to close this little recap off: Go Irish, Michigan Sucks.

MSS Finally Hit’s iPhone…September 25th

So clearly, “late summer” means early fall. Great work AT&T!

Anyways, upon hearing about the release of iPhone OS 3.1, I remembered reading a rumor that AT&T could likely give us the long awaited MMS functionality on this day. Well, according to Gizmodo, not so much, but at least we finally have a date for it, September 25th.

The best part of this whole AT&T failure from that article is that, despite previous claims, the issue with MMS was indeed a subpar network:

We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.

Just wow…

Oh and don’t expect tethering to hit your iPhone September 25th either, that is definitely not happening. AT&T has actually said their network wouldn’t be able to cut it and they are coming up with a pricing plan. There is no hard date…or even a guess at one as of now.

And yes, AT&T is still the only carrier in the world to not have MMS and tethering support at this time for the iPhone.

Hail to the Violations?

Well it sure appears like Rich Rodriguez is working hard in Michigan…or, to be more accurate, it seems he is making his players put in that work. Of course he has adamantly denied mandating his team to go over the 20 hour/week NCAA practice limits, even to the point of tears. The assault hasn’t stopped there either, as he has also apparently been involved with a banned Clemson booster, which has led to a nice lawsuit for Rich Rod.

Not really a good time to be a Michigan fan right now.

I kid you not, this story was covered on my local sports station which really only focuses on Dallas sports (e.g. not ESPN national coverage). This has really blown up big across the nation.

With everything coming out in bunches right now against Rich Rod, one fact seems clear: there are some important people that want him out and want him out now. I guess a 3-9 season can do that to a fan base and folks with thick wallets; however, it is good to know that fan bases like Notre Dame would never stoop to such lows to try and show discontent for a coach (more on that mess in a future post).

While the news about the lawsuit and involvement with the banned booster seem to be a bit of a nice smear campaign to help shove Rich Rod out the door, the potential practice hour violations may actually be of some concern to Michigan. This doesn’t seem to be something that will simply be brushed off as “well, yeah, everyone does it” — which to a certain degree is true. Heck even Ohio State alum, Kurt Herbstreit, and the current Ohio State team is sticking up for Michigan.

Back in my time as a manager, ND had similar “optional” workouts that were basically required; in fact, “optional-mandatory” was the term Weis used for them. Basically, they were extra workout/lifting sessions for the team. I never saw any of these workouts personally, so I cannot say for certain whether coaches were or were not in attendance; however, I can say this: I am positive that in some way, shape, or form Weis knew who was there and who wasn’t and it would be naive to believe otherwise or to believe that this doesn’t happen at pretty much every school in the nation. That being said, I do believe that Weis was smart enough to not ever let some of the following things happen:

In the past two off-seasons, players said, the Wolverines were expected to spend two to three times more than the eight hours allowed for required workouts each week. Players are free to exceed the limit, but it must be truly voluntary.

The players said the off-season work was clearly required. Several of them said players who failed to do all the strength and conditioning were forced to come back to finish or were punished with additional work.

“It was mandatory,” one player said. “They’d tell you it wasn’t, but it really was. If you didn’t show up, there was punishment. I just felt for the guys that did miss a workout and had to go through the personal hell they would go through.”

In addition, the players cited these practices within the program:

• Players spent at least nine hours on football activities on Sundays after games last fall. NCAA rules mandate a daily 4-hour limit. The Wolverines also exceeded the weekly limit of 20 hours, the athletes said.

• Players said members of Rodriguez’s quality-control staff often watched seven-on-seven off-season scrimmages. The noncontact drills, in which an offense runs plays against a defense, are supposed to be voluntary and player-run. They are held at U-M’s football facilities. NCAA rules allow only training staff — not quality-control staffers — to attend as a safety precaution. Quality-control staffers provide administrative and other support for the coaches but are not allowed to interact directly with players during games, practices or workouts.

…

Several players said that on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the past two off-seasons, they were expected to be in the weight room for three to four hours, followed by a run of 45 minutes to an hour.

Players said that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they were expected to spend two to three hours working on speed and agility. That brings the total time commitment to 15-21 hours a week — more than the NCAA’s [offseason] weekly 8-hour limit, which includes time spent watching film.

On top of the strength and conditioning, many players are expected to participate in seven-on-seven scrimmages five days a week, for about 45 minutes a day, during much of the off-season.

…

Several players said the off-season hours contributed to the program’s high attrition rate — more than 20 players have left the program early since Rodriguez was hired. They said that Michigan coaches have a saying: “Workouts aren’t mandatory, but neither is playing time.”

…

Under Carr, off-season seven-on-seven drills were run by players, without coaches or staff members present, players said. The only staffer there would be a trainer, in case anybody got injured, as allowed under NCAA rules.

Several players said Rodriguez’s coaches were more likely to insist they participate in seven-on-seven scrimmages, which have become more frequent. They also said that members of the program’s quality-control staff frequently watched seven-on-sevens.

“They usually just watched and would write down who wasn’t there,” one player on the 2008 team said.

Another said graduate assistants would track them down.

“The phone would ring: ‘Where you at? … You gotta come.’ ‘I’m in class.’ ”

Quality-control staffers are not allowed to attend voluntary drills, according to the NCAA.

Players also said members of the coaching staff sometimes lingered nearby to watch seven-on-seven scrimmages. Players said the coaches were not physically coaching them, but their presence made it apparent that attendance was being noted and their performances were being evaluated. NCAA rules require such scrimmages to be voluntary.

…

The 2008 Wolverines were shocked by how much Rodriguez required on fall Sundays.

Rodriguez required his players to arrive at Schembechler Hall by noon the day after games. They would then go through a full weight-lifting session, followed by individual position meetings and a full-team meeting. Then, at night, they would hold a full practice. Often, they would not leave the practice facility until after 10 p.m.

In September 2008, three weeks into Rodriguez’s first season, senior defensive tackle Terrance Taylor talked about his previous Sunday.

“It was, like, 10 hours,” Taylor said. “Everybody was like, ‘Where were you at?’ ‘I was at practice all day.’ My parents were still here. They were like, ‘Where were you at?’ I was like, ‘I was at the building all day.’ ”

The NCAA limit is 4 hours a day for required activities.

“The Sundays were miserable,” one player said. “I could never get healthy. You’d go through a game and then go through a hard workout. Sundays would just kill you.”

The NCAA also limits teams to 20 hours a week, and Rodriguez apparently exceeded that limit as well.

Yeah…just a tad bit more than a few “optional-mandatory” lifts to say the least.

As much time as I spent working around the team and around the Gug, I can safely say ND never even came close to toeing the line that Michigan has apparently crossed. We worked long hours and were used for just about everything the football team needed in regards to practice and yes, even offseason workouts; however, even we weren’t allowed to be in those lifting sessions (hell, we couldn’t even go in the weight room). Sundays we’d be recording final player times, checking for holes in uniforms, and general laundry duties, and players would be coming in and out throughout the day taking care of things on their own. Definitely nothing at all like what some of these players have been describing.

Again, let’s be clear, no one is doubting that teams go over the NCAA limits. The main issue at hand here is how it seems Rich Rod was actually recording these events, punishing players for failing to show up, and having the extra hours as a set routine for the team.

And that’s probably one of the most damning things about the whole situation: it’s the players ratting Rich Rod out. Sure you could say these are disgruntled former players, but it is a little hard to ignore when the freshmen on the team confirm it without knowing any better:

At the school’s news media day, the Free Press asked freshman Brandin Hawthorne what winter conditioning was like. Hawthorne, a linebacker from Pahokee, Fla., enrolled in January.

“It’s crazy,” said Hawthorne, who was not complaining about his coaches and was apparently unaware of the time-limit rules. “I work out at 8. We’ll work out from, like, 8 to 10:30. We come back later, have one-on-ones, seven-on-sevens, a little passing. Then I’ll go watch a little film.”

The Free Press also asked freshman receiver Je’Ron Stokes about Michigan’s off-season program. Stokes, from Philadelphia, arrived at the Ann Arbor campus in June.

“Hooooo!” Stokes said. “A typical week is working from 8 a.m. in the morning to 6 or 7 at night, Monday through Saturday.”

And that was starting in June?

“Yes, sir,” Stokes said. “We do the weight room at least three times a week, and seven-on-sevens and one-on-ones. Speed and agility on the other days. Every day we have something new to get ready for the season. The coaches have done a great job of stressing the importance of getting us ready for the big season that we’re about to have.”

To play devil’s advocate for a second, the two freshmen did not say anything in the article about coaches being around or attendance being taken. However, what they did confirm was that the crazy hours former players were talking about do not seem to be so far fetched and gives credibility to their stories.

Perhaps the most disturbing fact and, well, laughable fact about the whole situation is where this has gotten Michigan: loads of players leaving the program and a 3-9 record in 2008. If these allegations end up being true, how awful and shameful is it for Michigan to not only get slapped with NCAA sanctions (for the first time ever I believe), but that they literally got nothing out of it. It would be like a baseball player getting caught juicing and not hitting a single homerun.

Time will tell whether or not these allegations are actually true, but things do not seem to be going so well for Michigan or Rich Rod right now. This is definitely not the way you’d like to enter the football season, especially trying to rebound from an awful season. I wonder how many Michigan fans are wishing Lloyd Carr was still around right about now?

DallasProSports.com Fantasy Football Panel

I was recently offered the chance to a part of a Fantasy Football panel on DallasProSports.com and I decided to take a stab at it. The job was to find what I considered to be the top 5 sleepers for the season this year. I encourage everyone to drop by and watch me attempt to play fantasy football expert and see my picks along with the rest of the panel.

I think I did a decent job with my picks. Feel free to leave comments/criticisms in their comment section as well as here.