I regret the paucity of "The Victors" posts in the Fall of '17. I will not apologize for prioritizing "The Explorers' Club," Project BLACK MAMBA, & the R.B.D.S.O.T.D., but I do regret that I did not also make more time to cover the college football season.
The Wayback Machine Tour of The Victors: Team 138 (non-conference schedule):
Game 1: Florida
Game 2: Cincinnati
Game 3: Air Force
Saturday, 23 September @ Ross-Ade Stadium
(№ 8) Michigan 28-10 Purdue
4-0, B1G 1-0
As poorly as Wilton Speight has played in the first three games of the season, my heart still sank when he went out with an injury, of course worried for the young man's health, but also for the valiant Wolverines' fortunes with John O'Korn in at quarterback. What followed was, much to my Purdue-alumnus father's dismay, O'Korn's finest performance as a quarterback at the University of Michigan. Ominously for Team 138's fortunes in the remainder of the season, 'twas truly O'Korn's finest performance as a quarterback at the University of Michigan.
Uncle Don's Murder Machine murderized the well-engineered Boilermakers' offense, holding Purdue to zero for twelve on third-down conversions & zero first downs at all in the second half.
Saturday, 7 October @ Michigan Stadium
Michigan Agricultural 14-10 Michigan (№ 7)
4-1, B1G 1-1
Both the valiant Wolverines & the dastardly Spartans tried their level best to lose the game, held amidst a torrential downpour, but in the end, led by an unbelievable five turnovers, the valiant Wolverines won the race to the bottom, losing the game & the hideous Paul Bunyan Trophy. John O'Korn might be a fantastic human being, a real stand-up guy, but he is a profoundly inept college quarterback. After the game, he took personal responsibility for the three interceptions he threw to seal the M.A.C. victory; during the game, he threw three terrible interceptions. The passes he threw to the dastardly Spartans were far & away the most accurate passes he threw all night.
The Monday after the M.A.C. game, a new participant showed up at my Monday-night Bible study. As is my habit after a loss, I was wearing Michigan gear. (Any fair-weather fan can support his club after a victory, but the dyed-in-the-wool fan knows that the crucial time to show team spirit is after a loss.) A Spartan fan, this new participant took the opportunity to mock me for the 2015 Michigan-M.A.C. game. Not the game held just two days prior, not Michigan's 2016 victory at Spartan Stadium, but the '15 game. What can I say? That's the petty M.A.C. mindset. I was gracious to her & in my e-mail about the next week's session thanked her for extending to me the opportunity to be kind to someone who had been cruel to me; oddly, she never showed up for another Bible study session after that. Of course, as an M.A.C. fan, I presume she's functionally illiterate; so, she probably didn't show up out of embarrassment that she wouldn't be able to keep up with the weekly reading.
Saturday, 14 October @ Memorial Stadium
(№ 17) Michigan 27-20 Indiana (O.T.)
5-1, B1G 2-1
Uncle Don's Murder Machine looked decidedly less murder-y against the wily Hoosiers than it had on the previous visit to the State of Indiana, against Purdue. The Indiana offense was surprisingly effective & the Michigan offense continued to struggle to execute even basic plays, with the valiant Wolverines requiring overtime time to earn the victory. Such were Michigan's struggles that despite leaving Bloomington with the "W," the "Fighting Harbaughs" still dropped two places in the Associated Press poll. Worse was to come.
Go Blue!
No comments:
Post a Comment