The Victors

Saturday, 19 September 2015
Michigan 28-7 U.N.L.V.
2-1, B1G 0-0

Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock, a graduate student transfer from Iowa, where he was a two-year starter, has now thrown five interceptions in the first three games, which is the same number of interceptions he threw all of last year at Iowa. Rudock is a complete disaster, an albatross around the neck of a club that is still weak from the Brady Hoke years, a club that might not be good enough to win very many games behind a quarterback whose only accurate throws are to the opposing club's defenders. As long as Rudock is the valiant Wolverines' quarterback, they are going to struggle to achieve bowl eligibility this season. I do not understand why Rudock is still starting ahead of Shane Morris, unless Morris is a shambles in practice. Thank goodness Rudock's active sabotage of the valiant Wolverines can only last for this one year. When he is gone, it will be good riddance to bad rubbish.

The running game returned to Earth after soaring to unsustainable heights against Oregon State. Of course, I say that about a game that featured the two longest runs of the year, both of them for touchdowns. Other than those "explosive plays," the things that has been conspicuously absent from the valiant Wolverines' offense this season, though, the running game struggled more & was less reliably productive than in the previous match. The defense was solid throughout, only losing the shutout late in the fourth quarter.

My expectations for the rest of the season are minimal, given the offense running through the inept hands of Rudock, who actually seems to be regressing, becoming a less accurate passer with each passing weekend. I had hoped the valiant Wolverines would win eight games. While that is still possible against a Big Ten schedule that looks fairly weak, I expect them to be soundly defeated by every ranked club they play & finish the regular season with six wins. A winning season & bowl eligibility are the goals. We can begin to think about eight or nine wins once Rudock has exhausted his N.C.A.A. eligibility & Harbaugh's own players displace Hoke's on the roster. (Of course, it must be noted that responsibility for Rudock wearing the Maize & Blue rests with Harbaugh, not Hoke; this albatross is largely responsible for tarnishing Harbaugh's aura of inevitability-cum-invincibility.)

Next: № 22 B.Y.U. at the "Big House," Michigan Stadium. The epithetless Cougars are 2-1, their loss having come this past weekend at the hands of № 9 U.C.L.A. (Ranked № 10 before the victory over B.Y.U., who were № 19.) True, both of B.Y.U.'s victories involved last-second "Hail Mary" passes, but they are also not hamstrung by starting Jake Rudock at quarterback, so I am very concerned about the prospect of Coach Harbaugh's first defeat in the friendly confines of the Big House. Where is my faith in the valiant Wolverines? I suppose the last seven years, & the blundering of Jake Rudock, have made me bitter & cynical.

Of the first "Hail Mary" victory, over Nebraska, Daddy Dylweed, who is Mormon, texted me, "Every Mormon is a little more Catholic after that pass!"

Go Blue!