Well, that was bad. And embarrassing. And almost a repeat of the horror. And many other things that could involve several expletives and lost brain cells from head bashing. So was it as bad as well all thought the minute it was over? No. It was not as bad as we all thought but by no means was it anything close to acceptable.

Before everyone starts panicking, people need to remember that we were a) facing a good FCS team, so it should not have been a repeat of Delaware State and b) coming off of a large win against Notre Dame, possibly accounting for our slow start. This should not be an excuse for our poor play (and I don't want it taken that way), but it could explain a few things. Whatever the case may be, there is no excuse for the way we started and finished. Our defense looked awful and consistently played a cover 3 that looked a lot like 2008 at times. Putting it simply, our defense sucked.

So how can we pull any positives out of this? First of all, UMass is actually a good team that will probably end up being a serious contender for the FCS title. Second, this game should serve as a huge wake-up game for this team. This game will hopefully teach them to never take an opponent for granted and will also likely cause the coaching staff to prepare them for each game like it means the season is on the line. Also, our offense still looked good and we finally had a running back show up, so there's a plus as well.

So, does this spell doom for our season? Absolutely not. We're still 3-0, even with this ugly win. Should we temper our expectations? For those of us predicting more than 8 wins, then probably yes. Otherwise, 7-5 or 8-4 are still possible. In my opinion, this is Michigan just coming out flat and taking an opponent for granted, something that is not likely to happen again. If it happens again next week, then start panicking. And be happy, this is not a repeat of Appalachian State. Remember, we still won, which is the most important stat.