Cirkus McGurkus: Random Thoughts on the Miami (Ohio) Game

Since Peabody is probably getting oxygen and Xanax after Tom Brady went down in the first quarter, I'll take the first stab at initial post-game thoughts.

A Star is Burns?
Sam McGuffie was obviously the (only) offensive highlight of the day. Is it too early to anoint him as being the go-to guy and a capable feature RB in RichRod's system? Of course. But he was anointed before even arriving to campus because of the YouTube phenomenon.

As with everything in life, an analogy from The Simpsons clarifies the situation. Is McGuffie surprisingly legit after two games, like Barney's entry to the Springfield Film Fest was surprisingly legit? Or is it smoke and mirrors, like Mr. Burns' biography directed by Señor Spielbergo? Or are we just enjoying something that really isn't that good at all, like "Man Getting Hit By Football?" Time will tell. But man, that episode was great.

The only thing...
I hope we as fans don't get caught up with McGuffie because he's a novelty - the white running back. We didn't with Justin Fargas (update: who the hell was I thinking of? -ed) in his brief time at UM, and as I said above we're probably overrating him because of the whole jumping-over-people-hype train. I just don't want to be the cliche white guy who likes white athletes, like Bill Simmons and Larry Bird, or Bill Simmons and Luke Walton, or Bill Simmons and Wes Welker. Hell, if anything, I'd overrate him because of his jersey number. Charles Woodson: I miss thee.

The Defense Wasn't That Good
Sure, six points is six points. But there were at least four times after Miami dropped a pass or made a bone-headed play that I said "against OSU, that's a touchdown." You can insert most other competitive teams for OSU, and you get the point. This won't fly against the big boys. Plus, we didn't force a three-and-out on them in the second half (I don't think) until the end, when they were feeling the time crunch and using a backup QB. There were still way too many short pass completions to that little dude wearing number 9. Linebacking corps, I hope you improve.

Zoltan?
I have no idea what is wrong with him. Maybe there's trouble back on Krypton. Maybe he's partying all night with the Tri-Delt house and hasn't been focused. Whatever the reason, his punting has seemed to deteriorated. And he botched the hold on the XPA. Not good.

Side note: watch Zoltan whenever we actually MAKE an XPA. He always has some weird celebration thing when he reaches his hands to the skies, praising his various space-deities.

Side, side note: KC Lopata was solid again. Yeah, he missed ugly, but he can kick the long ball. The extra point was not his fault.

Mealer!
I saw a couple walking back to the golf course after the game wearing "Mealer" jerseys. So I did what any normal person would do and yelled "MEALER!" and gave them a thumbs up. They looked of parental age, and looked happy. That family/dude has been through a lot, I'm glad they've integrated into the Michigan family so well.

Speaking of, screw Justin Boren.

The Student Section...

...looked good. Keep it up, people. I was impressed by the energy/coordination. Photo quality is poor because it was my cellphone.