Well That Was Embarassing

With visions of a perfect Big Ten season in their heads, the Michigan Wolverines took the field against Wisconsin this weekend. Though the game meant nothing as far as the conference title was concerned, the specter of the first two weeks still loomed over the program. A win would solidify Michigan as a good team, and kick off a fantastic week of hype for a battle of top-ten teams.

The stage was set, and the storylines were great.

Michigan responded by going out and got its ass kicked.

Thoroughly.

Don't let the fact that the game was close with 5 minutes to play fool you. Wisconsin dominated.

Tyler Donovan (McNabb) was the star of this game. When he got in trouble, he scrambled to buy more time. He got rid of the ball when nothing was available, and hit his receivers whenever they were open.

Mallett, on the other hand, was awful. Eleven completions on thirty-six attempts only begins to tell the story. He was impatient in the pocket, making terrible reads and bad throws. He put almost no touch on the balls, rifling everything in like he was trying to batter his way through a brick wall.

The running game was not much better. Brown and Minor combined for 64 yards on 18 carries, a 3.5 YPC average.

The defensive line frequently allowed backup running backs Zach Brown and Lance Smith-Williams to pound the ball through the middle for consistent gains.

In short, Michigan sucked in every aspect of the game.

But they can still beat Ohio State.

Three things are going to have to happen though, and I'm not sure if I trust the coaching staff to pull it off:

1) Close the gaps on the defensive line. Beanie Wells is good, and he is going to get his yards regardless. However, Ron English's squad just spent a Saturday getting pounded by a pair of pedestrian running backs. If they make it that easy for Ohio State, the Buckeyes' line is going to have Wells running all the way to Pasadena.

2) Put together a gameplan for Ryan Mallett that can win. The plan will obviously be for Henne to play. However, he is hurt and unlikely to heal in the next 5 days. This team needs to be prepared in the event that Mallett has to play. What does that mean? Play actions would be nice, to start. Perhaps some routes over the middle. Comebacks on the sideline would be good too. Basically, high percentage passes to get Mallett into a rhythm, setting up the deep ball. Even against Wisconsin, he threw some exceptionally good passes. He has the ability. However, when he's throwing on third and long, he has shown that the tendency to lose composure.

If Mallett has to play this weekend, the coaches need to make sure that he is given the best chance to win. Running the ball more to keep it out of his hands is not the solution.

3) Pray for Mike Hart. If he's out, Michigan loses. I don't say this just because of his talent (though that certainly plays a role), but because the coaching staff seems incapable of planning a game without him. Minor and Brown are very different backs than Hart, but we run the exact same plays. It's a recipe for failure against any team that's better than Minnesota.

Michigan got its ass kicked last week. Unless the coaching staff makes some serious adjustments, it could very well happen again.

So...how much faith do you have in Lloyd Carr, Ron English, and Mike DeBord?