<p>Funny how Michigan will be worrying about Northwestern. Go Cats! ;)</p>
<p>Northwestern beat Wisconsin, they have a tricky coach and they always seem to play Michigan hard. Isn't Carr like 4-3 vs NU? There is a good reason we are worried about NU.</p>
<p>In the Big 10 there is always one generally lower team that can be real trouble for a top team due to matchups, unusual schemes, etc. UW usually does better than expected with OSU but has trouble with NU due to the spread offense they run. Most teams have a weakness that the right opponent can exploit. Plus success breeds success in football. Thinking you can win goes a long way.</p>
<p>barrons and Alexandre,</p>
<p>I want to see your opinion on this. My friend who went to Michigan law school HATES Pac-10. He said Pac-10 had no defense though he did acknowledge they had good offense.</p>
<p>Now here's what I have problem with his statement. Not long ago, what he said would probably be true. However, recent matchups between Pac-10 teams with others seem to suggest Pac-10 defense, while not the best, is no worse than average when compared to other 5 conferences. Last year, USC scored more points on OK, the Big12 champ that Texas couldn't score any point on (people attributed that to OK's defense) than on any of its Pac-10 opponents. Northwestern's offense similar to that run by many Pac-10 teams. They seem to score a lot of points against Big-10 opponents. In fact, Northwestern had scored more on any one of them so far than on Arizona State (they lost pretty ugly in that contest, something like 52:24). Arizona State also scored more points on LSU than any of the SEC teams that LSU played did. To me, I think it's the kind of the offense Pac-10 teams run that seems to make their defense look bad.</p>
<p>I think the right word to use is physical. The Big 10 is more Physical than the Pac 10. I do not believe the Pac 10 today has weaker defenses than the Big 10, but they did just 10 years ago. But even today, I think the Big 10 plays a far more physical, hard-nosed game than the Pac 10, sometimes, to its own detriment.</p>
<p>From a Wolverine alumna from days gone past, just want to add another huge "Go Blue !!!!"""</p>
<p>Our wolverine which plays "Hail to the Victors" was very busy last Saturday, esp. as my son was on the phone to a huge PSU fan.</p>
<p>Hail to the Victors is an annoying song to get stuck in your head. It also makes no sense when they say they are the "Champions of the West" when they aren't even in the western half of the US.</p>
<p>That's because when Michigan was founded, it was in the western parts of the U.S. You don't change a school's fight song.</p>
<p>Just like the name Northwestern.</p>
<p>Hail to the Victors is considered one of the top 2 fight songs in College Football. You don't like it because you are an OSU fan! LOL</p>
<p>My Wildcat just KILLED your rival. Who is next? ;)</p>
<p>Are you bragging Sam?! hehe! I love it. Well, I must say, Northwestern is doing far more with its talent than Michigan. Still, I think Michigan will win because of three factors:</p>
<p>1) We will not underestimate Northwestern. We haven't since the late 90's.
2) Michigan has its back against the wall. That's when we play our best football.
3) Our vitories at MSU and Iowa have given us the necessary confidence on the road.</p>
<p>This said, I would not be surprised if Northwestern found a way to win next week. Should be a great one.</p>
<p>Michigan State getting trounced by Northwestern is the best thing that could have happened to us. Now we won't underestimate them, as they are a good team.</p>
<p>How serious is Mike Hart's injury? Will he be available next week? Michigan is a different team without Mike Hart.</p>
<p>It is impossible to tell with Michigan. We never describe the status of injured players. I agree that without Hart, Michigan is a different team. But we should get used to it. We should not depend on any one player. I think Grady and Jackson did ok yesterday, as did Henne. We need to depend more on the players who are healthy.</p>
<p>This is weird. The Wolverine is currently ranked lower. Does that mean they will be the underdog? ;)</p>
<p>Michigan is 3 and a half point favorites over Northwestern, even though its a road game for the Wolverines. Should be interesting to see if the sorry Wolverine defense can stop Tyrell Sutton, a local kid from a Cleveland suburb.</p>
<p>Sam Lee, it would appear that the world is back to normal, with Michigan ranked above Northwestern. Hehe Actually, it was a very sloppy game. Both teams combined for 7 turnovers. That is not good this late in the season. I cannot brag. This game could have gone either way. If Michigan wants to beat OSU, we are going to have to fix many offensive issues in the next 3 weeks. The good news is, we have two weeks to heal and get our team back in shape. </p>
<p>Joev, Sutton had a bad day I would say. under 100 yards and 2 fumbles.</p>
<p>Michigan played fine. Four turnovers, but look how they came. A fumble on an interception return and Henne tossed an interception on the Hail Mary at the end of the first half.</p>
<p>430 yards of offense, Chad Henne's numbers were pretty low only because a lot of passes were counted as rushing yards. The defense held one of the best offenses in the country to 17 points. Michigan should have won this game by a bit more.</p>
<p>Only thing that I wonder is if the outcome would have been any different if Leon Hall hadn't returned that early fumble for a TD.</p>
<p>Well, Michigan has a "tweak game" next week, to prepare for the OSU the week after that. Hopefully Lloyd will put in some extra film. I'd love to ruin OSU's Big Ten title hopes!</p>