At this stage in the season, it’s not the incompetence that’s surprising.
It’s the way Michigan finds fresh opportunities to display it each week.
Against Indiana, it was things like punting in plus territory, kicking a field goal inside the three, giving your lead back one (!) carry in the first half, and forgetting you have timeouts. You know, stuff that underperforming teams do.
The reality is that there will never be a Michigan football game that I don’t care about on some level. And yet! My level of care for this one is admittedly low. Will I watch? Of course. Do I care? Of course. Do I care a lot? Sigh. Maybe still?
Because on the one hand: this is a battle of two average-to-sub-average teams at 3:30 in the afternoon the week before The Game.
But on the other hand: this is the last precursor to that ultimate showdown in Columbus on November 30th.
And for that reason, I care deeply about this game.
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Northwestern is Michigan-But-Purple. An offense that you can occasionally squint at and say “Okay, I see what we’re trying to do here” that suddenly vanishes. One or two playmakers (hello, AJ Henning!) amidst a whole lot of . . . uh . . . not much else. Midwestern Ivy League schools that are, quite simply, better and smarter than everyone else.
The one distinguishing factor is on defense and favors Michigan. For all his flaws, Wink Martindale has really called a nice couple of games. Particularly in the second half of both the Oregon and Indiana contests, the Michigan defense has played at levels that for brief moments looked like the defense of years gone by. The Wolverines held Oregon to 10 second half points and Indiana to just 3. While the offense couldn’t muster enough to win either game – sigh – that’s the level of defense that will set Michigan apart from teams like Northwestern, even in a sub-average year.
For everything Michigan doesn’t have, the one thing they do have is the nation’s best defensive line. You can expect Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and the rest to give one more incredible effort in front of a Senior Day crowd in Ann Arbor.
On the offensive side of the ball – who knows. I think the offense should be able to get itself right – for at least one game – and hopefully build momentum heading into The Game. But I’ve also watched Kirk Campbell call double-digit games this season, which means I’m sure we’ll see Davis Warren yanked the moment he gets hot so we can have Alex Orji run up the middle for no gain. On the plus side, Sherrone Moore said to expect Micah Ka’apana to see some touches, which is great news for the youngster. My only request is that we don’t treat this like a bowl game where we just toss random guys in for playing time. This is a glorified practice for what would be the absolute funniest thing to ever happen in the history of mankind next weekend.
If it sounds like I’m looking past Northwestern, it’s because I am. It has nothing to do with whether or not they can beat Michigan. They absolutely can (although I do not think they will).
It has everything to do with the one game that can turn this tumultuous season into a success after all.
MICHIGAN 27
NORTHWESTERN 13
