I started hitting “mute” on special teams plays.
I don’t remember if it started after Trouble With the Snap, but it was around then. Somehow, some way, removing the audio also removed the chances that bad things would happen.
After muting field goals, punts, etc. for years, Jake Moody made me quite lax with this. Only good things happened when he kicked the ball. James Turner kept my confidence. Dominic Zvada (minus one extra point) has as well.
But sometimes you get feelings about these things. And when Minnesota lined up for an onside kick, I got that uneasy “Michigan’s-gonna-find-a-way-to-screw-this-up” Brady Hoke-era feeling in my stomach.
I hit mute.
Minnesota recovered an onside kick. Then didn’t. Then didn’t officially.
Am I a hero? I can’t really say, but yes.
THE PLUMMET
I am positively begging Michigan to play a complete game of football.
For years, Michigan would start slow. They’d be in a 10-10 game with Indiana and then suffocate them. The halftime adjustments were like clockwork. These days – while I wouldn’t call anything this team does fast – Michigan has started with dominant first halves two weeks straight. They dominated USC for 30 minutes the week prior, then turned around and took Minnesota’s lunch money through nearly three quarters.
Then: the plummet.
Someone posited that Michigan’s offense is feast-or-famine and it chooses “famine” at inopportune times. That’s certainly part of it, but it’s not all of it. Otherwise, we’d see massive swings in the first half as well. Maybe the 3-and-out right after an opponent touchdown throws an exhausted defense back on the field with no momentum and tired legs? (That’s my working theory for now.) If so . . . we miss you, Ben Herbert.
In any case, Michigan better figure it out.
And quickly.
MICHIGAN – WASHINGTON PREVIEW:
Michigan and Washington played in the national championship game earlier this year, despite it feeling like eons ago. Both of these teams lost a ton of talent to the NFL; and despite all the talk about Michigan falling off a cliff, the Wolverines are ranked in the Top 10 and have a nice win on the September resume. Washington lost their rivalry game and followed it up with a loss to Rutgers.
One of these things is not like the other.
That said, this is still an offense that puts up a ton of yards. Will Rogers and the Huskies gained 400+ in their Apple Cup matchup and 500+ against Rutgers. So, on the one hand: losing. But, on the other hand: an offense capable of throwing the ball downfield (!) Rogers will throw and throw a lot. Michigan’s secondary is going to need to be sound. There’s plenty to love about the way Jyaire Hill is playing, especially when a healthy Will Johnson is there to complement.
Per usual, the big story of Michigan’s defense will be the defensive line. Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and (hopefully) Josiah Stewart will have the ability to get to Rogers and turn his evening into a nightmare. Just ask Miller Moss. I expect success here.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Huskies are susceptible to Michigan’s gameplan of running the football. Kyle Monangai and Rutgers operate a very similar strategy (despite the talent gap between programs) to what Michigan wants to lean into. Three yards. Cloud of dust. All that jazz.
I am not convinced that Washington can handle Kalel Mullings. They are susceptible to a primetime Mull-dozing. The Huskies did not show much ability to slow down a Rutgers rushing attack that posed very little threat from Kaliakmanis to run or pass. At least Alex Orji threatens in one of those! He has the ability to force a defense to be indecisive, which is exactly what you cannot be if you want to bring down Mullings.
PREDICTION:
If Michigan plays a full sixty minutes, I think they win this one going away. While I expect a more robust, complete game from Michigan, it’s hard to assume they’ll play one until, you know, they actually do. It’s also the first road test for an inexperienced offense. Crowd noise and false starts and other glaring moments of inexperience that put them behind the sticks will be drive killers.
The defense will once again be asked to give the offense enough drives for Kalel Mullings to run over a handful of fools on his way to the endzone. It will be the same ask every week. Rinse. Repeat. “It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.” And it will be enough to get the job done – so long as Michigan remembers how long a football game is.
Forgetting didn’t cost them last week. Or the week before that.
I don’t think it’ll cost them this week. But best not find out.
MICHIGAN: 27
WASHINGTON: 24
