About Last Week Some of you said that Mason Graham played like a man possessed. Or that he played like a man who was angry that he’d missed two games. Or like a man trying to make up for lost time. None of these theories was exactly correct. Barron Mason Graham was playing with the fury and desperation of a man who badly needs to scratch his butt, yet cannot. And he knows that only by ending the game can he remove the club and end his suffering. Mason Graham hates the Red Hat Media Timeout Guy more than anyone. The Road Ahead Indiana (2-3, 0-2 B1G) Last week: Bye Indiana Recap: Some folks take the bye week to rest and recover. Some folks use the bye week to apply the full catalogue of ACME products to their offense. Tom Allen woke up last week and chose ACME. Out: offensive coordinator Walt Bell, a guy dedicated to the idea that you can pester a defense into submission one three-yard screen pass at a time. In: former Temple and NIU head coach Rod Carey, a guy who, in the past, ran an
About Last Week This happened. [Barron] The Road Ahead Minnesota (3-2, 1-1 B1G) Last week: Beat Louisiana, 35-24 Recap: They got back in the win column, but it wasn’t pretty. Minnesota trailed 17-14 at halftime, and didn’t get their lead out to multiple scores until the fourth quarter. They were outgained by 1.4 yards per play by the Ragin’ Cajuns. The offense looks more like what we generally expected entering the season; after running the ball on 36% of plays in the opener, they’ve run the ball on 70% of plays in the intervening 4 weeks, including 78% this week. But it’s the defense that is the real cause for concern; in the last two weeks, they’ve allowed 6.2 yards per play to Northwestern and 6.7 yards per play to Louisiana. This team is as frightening as (Cinema Edition): The shark from Jaws. Yes, it’s formidable, but its options to go after you are SUPER limited. If it tries to attack through the air, it’s mostly just gonna flop around. Fear Level = 5 Michigan sh
About Last Week Behold the progress Rutgers has made. This is JJ McCarthy running the ball. On purpose. Which he did FIVE separate times on Saturday. It was a clear sign of respect, and the understanding that Michigan couldn’t necessarily just romp seventy-eight-to-nothingishly over this Rutgers squad. Michigan had to turn the reads on for the first time this year and put JJ McCarthy in regular peril. And if you look through Patrick Barron’s and Bryan Fuller’s photo albums from this game, you will see many shots like this: JJ having to exert himself and risk life and limb against this great and worthy opponent. Of course, because this is Rutgers, there weren’t any defenders in most of those pictures. Mostly he just sort of meandered gleefully downfield until he decided it was time to take a 90 degree turn for the sidelines. Still: progress. The Road Ahead Nebraska (2-2, 0-1 B1G) Last week: Beat Louisiana Tech, 28-14 Recap: Nebraska has come full circle. They’ve got a fast, fe