Run Chart: Wisconsin

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips right	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	2	-	-

1st and 10: Really no mistake made here, Wisconsin just doesn't mess up. Schofield stays at home from his defensive end spot, and the zone blocking of the offensive line leaves him exposed. Pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be picked up here, so no minuses.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun split slot twins right	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	-2	-	Schilling
2-12	Shotgun 3 WR	Threet	Zone read keeper (and fake?)	14	Mathews, Threet	-
1-10	Shotgun split slot trips right	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	-1	-	Molk (-2)

1st and 10: Schilling lets his man inside of him on the zone play to the left, which busts the whole thing up.

2nd and 12: This one is sort of odd. Threet pulls it out from McGuffie and gives the appearence of wanting to throw it to Mathews. But Mathews is run blocking, so I think the appearence of wanting to pass is designed here. It works, as Threet fakes Shaughnessy and has enough room to scamper upfield for a first with assistance from a Mathews block.

1st and 10: Molk is badly beaten here. Mike Newkirk knifes past him as if he's not even there, and this play is dead from the get go.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun 3 WR	Odoms	End around	-3	-	Ortmann (?)
2-13	Shotgun split 2 WR	McGuffie	Zone stretch right	4	Brown, Schilling	Molk

1st and 10: Color me mellow, but this isn't an execution issue, it's just a bad playcall. I'm taking one off for Ortmann because he doesn't block the linebacker that shoots through and ends this play, but I don't think he was supposed to. This is just a sketchy playcall against a front seven as stout as Wisconsin's. It develops way too slowly and never has a chance.

2nd and 13: Carlos Brown is the lead blocker here (why not Grady?). Schilling shows some wheels as he gets out in front too to throw a nice block. Could've gone for a little more, but Molk gets beaten down the line.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips left	Threet	Zone read keeper	0	-	Threet
3-10	Shotgun 4 WR	McGuffie	Delayed draw	1	-	Massey (-2)
1-G	Shotgun split twins left	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	1	-	Molk

1st and 10: Bad decision by Threet to pull it out here. The read end doesn't bite on the fake to McGuffie and is all alone to chase Threet down and stuff him for no gain. The coaches and Threet were obviously counting on Wisconsin's front seven to be suckered in by the fake here. Schofield doesn't bite = play dead.

3rd and 10: WTF is Massey doing here? This actually probably goes for a first down, but Massey, in the right slot, jogs right past Jonathan Casillas, who blows McGuffie up. If Massey lays a hand on Casillas, there are no other Badgers remotely close to McGuffie. Complete whiff on Massey's part. Lack of awareness? Ugh.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun split trips left	Threet/McGuffie	Triple option	-2	-	Threet (-2), Schilling
2-12	I-form 2 WR	McGuffie	Iso	5	Moundros, Schilling, Moosman	-

1st and 10: Inside fake to Brown, option to the outside with McGuffie. Threet should just eat it here as Wisconsin is swarming the play (doesn't help that Schilling is beaten), but he pitches it to McGuffie. Pressure botches the pitch, and it's nearly a turnover, as Wisconsin recovers it but is out of bounds.

2nd and 12: Old school Michigan football, with Moundros crashing into the line and submarining a linebacker. Additional blocks by Schilling and Moosman help McGuffie squeak through for 5.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
2-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips right	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	1	-	Ortmann (-2)

2nd and 10: Ortmann is turned around badly, forcing McGuffie to cut up instead of stretching it out. This allows Schofield, unblocked because of the zone blocking scheme, to come down and tackle.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	I-form twins left	McGuffie	Iso	0	-	Moosman, Ortmann, Moundros
2-10	Shotgun split slot left	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	1	-	Ortmann, Molk

1st and 10: Both Moosman and Ortmann get beaten, which is probably why this play dies, but Moundros doesn't block anyone out of the FB spot either, and this half was an abortion, so I'm being cruel.

2nd and 10: Molk is muscled into the backfield, and Ortmann's cut block fails. At this point though, Wisconsin is just cheating up on the run since Threet couldn't complete a pass to save his life in the first half. Final carry of the half - thank you Jesus.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips right	Brown	Zone stretch left	0	-	Schilling

1st and 10: Ferrara is replaced after struggling in the first half (despite not appearing anywhere in the first half charts). This play is meh, I'm not entirely sure why Carlos Brown cuts back here, there was a slight glimmer of a hole in the direction he was going, but he cut back anywhere, and because the entire line was going one way, there was no blocking when he cut back. Schilling didn't help the cause. Vision issues with Brown?

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
4-1	I-form twins left	Grady	Iso	5	Molk, Moundros	-
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips left	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	6	Ortmann, McAvoy	-
2-4	Shotgun overload	Grady	Zone read handoff	3	-	Ortmann, McAvoy
3-1	Shotgun overload	Grady	Zone read handoff	2	-	McAvoy

4th and 1: Moundros gets a solid whack on a linebacker on the iso, along with Molk getting a nice push to spring Grady for the first. Love the use of Grady in this role.

1st and 10: Nice block by Ortmann and McAvoy keeping their men inside, while the zone read holds Shaughnessy long enough to give McGuffie room.

2nd and 4: This is a really bizarre formation. Threet lines up in his usual shotgun spot behind the center, but instead of having one back on each side, he's got both Grady and McGuffie to his left, kind of like a distorted shotgun version of the I-formation. Anyway, McAvoy loses his man (I think it's Newkirk) and Ortmann goes past him (nitpicky on my part), and Grady sort of falls forward.

3rd and 1: Same play. McAvoy is again overpowered by Newkirk, but Grady's power gets the first.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
2-10	Shotgun 4 WR	Minor	Delayed draw	1	-	Schilling, Moosman
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips left	Minor	Zone read handoff	34-TD	Schilling, Threet	-

2nd and 10: Unfortunately the delay is too long for Schilling and Moosman to hang on, and Wisconsin has players immediately crashing in and Minor has nowhere to go.

1st and 10: B-e-a-utiful. Perfect play call against a blitz up the middle by Wisconsin. The Badgers blitz themselves out of this play, as Schilling easily seals the inside, leaving it Threet and Minor against DeAndre Levy, the linebacker. Levy is frozen by the zone read (+1 Threet), and by the time he knows who has the football, Minor is past him and into the secondary with no one near him because the Badgers sold out on the blitz. From there Minor gallops to the endzone; Shane Carter has no chance to get him.

Down	Formation	Runner	Play	Yards	Yay	Nay
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips right	Threet	Zone read keeper - OMG!	58	Ortmann, McAvoy, Molk, Threet (+2)	-
1-10	Shotgun 4 WR trips right	Grady	Zone read handoff	4	Moosman	-
2-6	Shotgun 4 WR trips right	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	10	Ortmann	-
1-G	Shotgun ace	McGuffie	Zone read handoff	2	-	-
3-G	I-form twins right	McGuffie	Off tackle left	3-TD	Ortmann, McAvoy	-

1st and 10: Like, holy shit. Shaughnessy crashes down on Minor (literally), and Threet yanks it out. Molk and McAvoy hold up Newkirk and McFadden on the inside, while Ortmann gets enough of Casillas on the outside to spring Threet into the clear. Did this really happen?

1st and 10: Good push by Moosman on the inside, but Schofield shows more good discipline on the end, and because he's unblocked, he's able to zip in and get Grady. I don't think this is Schilling's fault, I'm pretty sure it's designed to leave the end unblocked, so no penalty to Schilling.

2nd and 6: This is mostly McGuffie. Ortmann gets a nice block inside, but this is mostly McGuffie breaking tackles and powering forward.

1st and goal: Stalemates abound. Nobody is free to cover the linebackers (Moundros went into the secondary to help Threet if he had pulled it out), so they clean it up. Meh play.

3rd and goal: Excellent kickout block by Ortmann, and a nice driving block by McAvoy which helps McGuffie muscle to the goalline. Moundros gets a nice block on Langford too, but Langford was far enough away from the play that he most likely wouldn't have gotten to McGuffie before the endzone anyway.

Charting ends here, as the last three carries of the game are strictly designed to kill Wisconsin's timeouts.

Chart:

	Yay	Nay	Total
Ortmann	4	6	-2
McAvoy	3	2	1
Molk	2	5	-3
Moosman	2	2	0
Schilling	3	4	-1
Massey	0	2	-2
Brown	1	0	1
Mathews	1	0	1
Moundros	2	1	1
Threet	4	3	1
TOTAL	22	25	-3

Thoughts:

• Not so surprisingly in the red in this game. The first half was that bad.
• It did get better after halftime. Barwis for President?
• Interesting matchup with Illinois on Saturday. The Illini defense has been various levels of suck so far. I don't expect a solid +15 like the Notre Dame game provided, but another -3 like this performance will be extremely discouraging.
• Another Illinois note non-Run Chart related: This is a very winnable game, which in my opinion will come down to three things: Safety play, linebacker play, and holding onto the MF'ing ball. I'm not overly worried about Juice running with it. He's a threat, no doubt, but the M defensive line is in beast mode, and if the linebackers stay disciplined on the zone plays, Juice and the Illini running game is containable. In regards to the safeties, they will be tested much more than they were against Wisconsin. If they make good decisions and don't get sucked in on too many zone plays and let Benn get over the top, Juice has not been a great intermediate passer yet this year.
• Oh, and of course, the offense and special teams needs to hold onto the damn thing. If they make the same mistakes they made against Wisconsin, Illinois will score touchdowns, not field goals.
  
• One more note: Updated 2010 recruiting board is coming tomorrow. Thanks in advance to Tim of Varsity Blue for the assist.
  

Those Who Stay.

Preface: Read this. It's good.

To perfectly sum up my feelings toward Michigan football in 2008, you need look no further than my reaction to Morgan Trent's fumble on the kick return after Wisconsin went up 13-0. In the past, I scream at the TV, bury my head in my hands and mutter obscenities about the world being an unfair place. This time, I could only shake my head wryly while watching from afar. While my father sat on his recliner across the room and decried, "this is a fucking joke", I resigned myself to the fact that it is what it is. I accepted the fact that Bret Bielema is an asshole, and would probably do a happy dance on the M at midfield after Wisconsin's firm beating of a mentally handicapped Michigan team was over. I accepted the fact that while chaos reigned supreme in the world of the internet, and boos rained down from the stands from ignorant people who don't know any better, ghosts from Michigan's past watched from the sidelines.
As it turns out though, Michigan isn't a mentally handicapped football team. They're just a team full of savants. It's Rain Man. After halftime, with Michigan in a 19-0 hole, I didn't expect a victory. I just hoped for one touchdown. I wasn't angry, I just wanted something to feel good about. I just wanted one touchdown to save some type of dignity. I'm not going to judge the schitzophrenic lynch mob that is the Michigan fanbase on the internet, but I can't help but shake my head at people screaming that Rodriguez is burying the program and the world is coming to an end. When people react based on emotion, you have to give them leniency. You have to excuse their behavior. Please forgive them, for they know not what they do.

This entire process is like bizarro world for me. When it comes to expecting the sky to fall and for everything to go wrong, nobody is above me. When the Pistons enter the postseason, I expect them to choke. When the Red Wings enter the postseason, I expect them to show their age. When the Tigers...take the field, I expect Yakety Sax to ensue. When the Lions play...I don't watch because I enjoy my eyesight and would like to avoid doing things that may cause me to ram forks into my eyes. But in the past, when Michigan had played, I always went against my own grain. When the winged helmets took the field, I expected victory, or I was miserable. But this year...it's different. Even before the Utah game, somewhere along the line I vaporized all expectations. That is not to say I was happy with losing. Nobody is ever happy with losing. But there's a big difference between being enraged after a loss (see: any of Michigan's losses in 2005) and accepting the loss because it's a growing process that will feature many, many growing pains.

And even then, with expectations squashed...they found a way to suck me back in. I got that touchdown I was wishing for in the third quarter. And then the defense went gangbusters. And then Steven Threet and Brandon Minor executed a perfect zone read play, completely freezing a Wisconsin linebacker and springing Minor for a 34 yard touchdown against a blitz. And then John Thompson intercepted a deflected pass, got a convoy from his ravenous teammates, and scored the go ahead touchdown. And then, in the ultimate preview of what will be one day, Steven Threet fooled everybody. When it appeared that Brandon Minor had taken the handoff and been crushed by a Wisky defender, in actuality, Threet had pulled the ball out, and was now running down the field with gassed Badgers chasing him. Jonathan Casillas is a senior All-Big Ten quality linebacker, and it took everything he had to chase down that freshman quarterback who can't run.
That is what 2008 is about, and it's time that people understood that. I have repeated this on internet message boards ad nauseum, but I guess it bears repeating again: This is not about wins and losses. Yes, this is Michigan, and that line of thinking is perverse, and I should be fired into space. Get over it. This is not about going deep into November competing with Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl berth. This is about growth, week to week, whether it's a win or a loss. People want to discuss how the first half on Saturday was the worst half of Michigan football ever. To that, I respond: Did you people watch the Oregon game last year? This year's team is a team full of freshmen and sophomores trying to work in a new system on offense. What's the excuse for last year's team that was gassed after a quarter and swirling the drain by halftime against Oregon? That was a team full of juniors and seniors. Where was the outrage when Chad Henne was booed off the field last year and Ryan Mallett was greeted with a savior's cheer?

The answer to all this is simple: There is still a large faction of the Michigan fanbase that is bitter about Les Miles not being on the sidelines. There is a group of "fans" that, while never admitting to wanting Michigan to fail, has disdain for Rich Rodriguez and is unwilling to give him a fair shake. We were three and a half games into the new era, and people were passing judgment, shooting their mouths off about a coach who has won everywhere he's been but is now trying to get the best out of a limited cupboard. There are people who are sick in the head and are trying to somehow convince people that the spread offense is magically making players fumble the football. To these people, I say: Jump ship. Mail me your football tickets, stay home, and don't you dare come crawling back in two years. Bitch and moan about Rich Rodriguez not being a Michigan Man, and then watch him after the clock hit 0:00 against Wisconsin.
So go ahead. Keep criticizing. When Michigan loses another fumble, throws another interception, loses another game this year, start yapping. I'm sure you'll feel vindicated when Ohio State beats Michigan again this year. I'm sure you'll believe that Les Miles would've done better. But don't try to get back on the bandwagon down the line.

And as for those who stay...remember the 2008 Wisconsin game. Remember the look on Bret Bielema's face when he realized what had slipped away from him. Contrast it to Bielema in the first quarter, staring directly at Michigan's defensive line and motioning first down with a grin on his face when Wisconsin's punter drew them offsides on 4th and 1.
Remember this game. And when you think about the people who booed and the people who left at halftime to go get drunk or to go sit on their orthopedic back pillows, remember what Bo said about Those Who Stay.

The Winnebago's in the shop

According to this, Wisconsin stud running back/bowling ball P.J. Hill is at this point a no-go against Michigan on Saturday.

Madison - Wisconsin tailback P.J. Hill, who sat out the loss at Ohio State because of a bruised left leg, is not expected to play Saturday when UW takes on No. 13 Michigan. "P.J. didn't go again today," UW coach Bret Bielema said after practice Thursday. "I doubt he is going to be likely to go on Saturday -- unless he gets better in a hurry." With Hill out, either freshman Zach Brown or sophomore Lance Smith should get the start. Brown rushed 20 times for 63 yards in the loss to Ohio State and has 181 yards and a touchdown in 55 carries, a 3.3-yard average. Smith served the fourth game of his five-game university suspension last week. In six games, Smith has 354 yards and three touchdowns in 55 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry.

Sad news for Badger fans...good news for Michigan. No P.J. Hill, no Luke Swan = an already anemic offense gets worse. Couple that with an already shaky defense riddled with injures, and, well...Michigan...like, win the game and stuff, okay?