This is Michigan. With those words, University of Michigan football coach Brady Hoke brought back the feeling of Michigan football. As a life long Maize and Blue bleeder, I was smitten with the new coach and continue to be to this day, despite the team losing two out of three after a scintillating 6-0 start. Tough road losses to the despised Spartans from East Lansing and the hardworking Iowa Hawkeyes were sandwiched around a good win at home against a decent Purdue Boilermaker team. The losses have many Wolverine fans screaming that the sky is falling, and I just don’t get it.
No true Michigan fan really expected this team to win the Big Ten Championship, let alone a National Championship. So, the fact that the team lost a couple games shouldn’t be a surprise. They didn’t play their best in either game, but still had a chance to win late in each. The defense has performed at a much higher level with basically the same players, giving us fans hope for the future at what this coaching staff will be able to do with players they recruited. The offense has struggled at times, but still scores points and is exciting to watch. It has been good to see the running game, with actual running backs make a return, even if not as much as I would like. This team, as far as I’m concerned, has well exceeded expectations. And the fact that this team is still in the race to play in the Big Ten Championship game in Indy this late in the season is pretty darn satisfying. A nine or ten win season is still a possibility, and not to mention a chance to end the season with a long overdue win against, as Coach Hoke says, “that team from Ohio”.
All us fans just need to take a deep breath, put things in perspective, and simmer down. Give this thing some time to grow, giving this fantastic coaching staff time to get their recruits onto the football field. Most importantly, relax and really look at what is going on. Instead of focusing on the negatives only, look at the positives that go along with it. The players make mistakes, but they fight and scratch their way through every game to the end, never giving up. The coaches make bad calls or decisions, but they quickly take responsibility for losses and mistakes, instead of blaming the players. The University of Michigan football team actually looks like a University of Michigan football team. My brother put it best the other day when we spoke after the Iowa loss. He said, “You know Christopher, it sounds crazy, but it feels good to hurt again.” I knew what he meant right away. It feels good to hurt after watching a loss again, instead of just being disgusted or angry. I have pride in these Wolverines. A Michigan football loss breaks my heart again…and that, my fellow Wolverine fans, should not leave you feeling so Blue.