Every FBS school strives for excellence in both academics and football. And most of them will be successful to a degree with their academic or football programs. Few however, will attain an elite status in either, which makes sense because being elite, after all, implies that most other schools aren't. So it's interesting to take a look at the elite academic schools who play FBS football, as well as the elite football programs:

Denard Robinson, the guy with the smile that continues to melt my heart.

Last night I decided to head into downtown Grand Rapids, and catch the Virginia Tech vs. Boise St. game in bar. This normally isn’t my scene, especially now since the bars are all non smoking. I was all decked out in Michigan apparel just like I am every other day of the year. As I watched 2 very good teams play what turned out to be an instant classic, something occurred to me. From watching the Broncos and The Chokies play, in my infinite wisdom, I decided that Michigan could play with either one of those teams.

There was 2 guys sitting at the bar with me. They were both Michigan fans, however they were on the opposite  ends of the spectrum. The first guy was about as big of a homer as I am. He smiled ear to ear when he talked about how Denard torched the UConn defense. He made me proud to be a Michigan fan. The other guy only talked about how UConn could have made a game of it if their receivers had held on the GODDAMN ball. He talked about how ugly the Michigan secondary looked, and how if Denard Robinson continues to carry the ball 29 times per game, he will need Brock Mealar like rehab to ever walk again. I was shocked that this one dude could have so much negativity after such a fantastic performance.

I guess I can understand some of the negativity. Michigan is 8-16 over the course of the last two years. There hasn’t been a whole lot to be optimistic about. My argument to this is a simple quote from that timeless classic Billy Madison.

Don't you say that. Don't you ever say that. Stay here. Stay here as long as you can. For the love of God, cherish it. You have to cherish it.

We need to remain optimistic. Sure we may lose this week to Notre Dame, or we go out there and annihilate the Golden Domers. This is why they play the game. Denard Robinson may carry the ball 30 times a game for the next 3 years and never miss a down. None of us can see the future. Our Secondary may turn into 5 versions of Charles Woodson, we don’t know. This is why they play the game. If you truly love the Wolverines like I believe most of you do, then remain optimistic. Don’t let the doubts and what ifs creep into your minds. We are Michigan, THE LEADERS AND BEST. I believe this young football team gets that, and will do whatever it takes to be successful.

I was going to get into the bashing of the Huskies meme yet again but meh, I don’t feel like. After reading some of the UConn message boards, UConn fans seem like generally good dudes. I will be rooting for the Huskies the rest of the way. Win the Big East boys.

Bashing of Notre Dame however will begin in full tomorrow. FUCK YOU IRISH!!!!!!!!!!

Great Expectations are what we need to have!!!!!!

So the optimism has carried over, now it is Monday, 5 long days until our Wolverines take the field in South Bend. Michigan has gone from a team that was predicted to win 6 or 7 games, to a team now expected to win 9 or 10. Are we jumping to conclusions? Is the unbridled optimism to much? Can we expect the momentum gained in the ass whoopin of UConn to continue to carry us?

This is not the 2009 Wolverines. You can throw out all of the bullshit about the 4-0 start last year. At no time last year did we look even close to as competent as we were on Saturday. Even against Notre Dame, and the magic that ensued. Notre Dame was a very mediocre team last year, and we needed a miracle to beat them. We also needed another miracle to beat a not very good Indiana team. In 2009 our offense at times looked competent, but was always glaringly inconsistent. Our defense last year, even with God on the D Line was so full of holes it made Swiss cheese look water tight. Tate Forcier and the rest of the Offense were so young that these sins are forgivable. The D was in their 3rd defensive coordinator in 3 years. I offer no excuses only facts.

Fast forward to 2010. The offense has grown into the machine that we thought it could be when Rich Rodriguez was hired in December of 2007. David Molk and his minions along the offensive line have turned into a force to be reckoned with. The blocking in the UConn game was outstanding, yet Greg Frey, U of M’s offensive line coach was happy but he thought there was room for improvement.

Pretty much satisfied with the offensive line play. Liked the effort. No "high grades" on the OL - partially because it's tougher to grade out well with Coach Frey. "A couple guys didn't play nearly as well as we thought they would," both at the point of attack and on the second level, but they were solid as a group.

Full presser notes found here.

Denard Robinson was obviously the star on Saturday, and with good reason. This dude looked like Pat White, except he threw the ball better then White did as a Sophomore. He has an absolute cannon for a right arm. If I had any kind of photoshop skills there would be a picture here. Instead I’ll try to paint a picture using words. Imagine if you will, that you are 19 years old, and about to start you first game in front of 113,000 people. Imagine all of the butterflies in your stomach as you enter what has to be considered a must win game. Imagine that you have had to endure 9 months of criticism, negative attacks, and media bias. Imagine that you are about to face a team that returns 16 starters and has a good shot at winning the Big East.

Denard Robinson faced all of this on Saturday, yet no butterflies showed. Sure he made some mistakes, there were a couple of poor reads on the Zone Read, but really who gives a shit. The positives make me forget the few negatives. I am not jumping on the Nard Dawg for Heisman campaign yet, but a few more performances like on Saturday, and this loyal fan will be firmly on board. 

This week things get a little bit tougher. We go on the road, to face Notre Dame. I think Brain Kelly will probably succeed at ND, but I think it will take some time. I think 7 wins is probably the best possible outcome for the Fighting Irish, although really I don’t know that much about this team. We know they are talented, if there was one thing Weis did well it was recruit. Yet as us Michigan fans know, changing systems can sometimes be a very hard road. I think Kelly has more talent at Notre Dame then Michigan did when Rodriguez took over, yet it’s still going to take some time to iron all of the kinks out of his offense. Brain Kelly has won everywhere he has ever been and I expect ND to be no different, but it’s not going to be this year. Their offense didn’t look overly impressive vs. Purdue, and the Defense, although forcing a couple of turnovers, allowed Purdue to move the ball quite well. And fwiw Purdue sucks.

So before I get to far into my ND preview I should wrap this up. The preview will probably be up on Thursday for those that are interested. One final thought before I put down the keyboard. I think Brain and Tim at MGoBlog deserve some love. I think a lot of us take all of their hard work for granted. Don’t. These guys do this because they like us, love the University of Michigan’s athletics. Lets try not to start any stupid threads or clutter the message board with crap. Treat MGo like you would treat a U of M football player, with tons of respect. Also if you haven’t read this or this by Dex at the Wolverine Liberation Army do so now. Dex is so good at the emo MICH post, read it and enjoy. Also keep smiling because Denard would want you to do so.

Holy Fucking Nard Dawg!!!!!!!!! Is there anything this dude can’t do? He can run, he can throw, he can cure cancer. Without a doubt the raddest human being to ever walk the planet.

So the University of Michigan’s 2010 football season started off with a bang. And by bang I mean Denard Robinson. How could one dude make an entire defense look so foolish? This young man, even while on the sidelines after getting hurt on a hard hit, still managed to light up the world with his smile. If you do not love Denard Robinson, quit reading this now, because you are hopeless.

Some writers here at MM argue that this was the 10th most important game of the season. I am calling bullshit right now. I agree that Ohio State is the most important game any year, but this year the UConn game was in the top 3. Had we come out of the tunnel and gotten our asses kicked by the Huskies, people would be calling for Rodriguez’s head. We didn’t and in fact we kicked UConn’s asses far worse then the 30-10 final would indicate. We destroyed what should be a very good Big East school. This game was very very important. If we lose to UConn and start the season 2-2 some of the other games lose their importance.

Denard Robinson lit fools up. I don’t understand some peoples just wait and see approach. Michigan kicked the living shit out of a very good team (or at least what I think is a very good team). The Defense had the bend but don’t break mentality and you know what, it worked. We didn’t give up very many big plays (one to be exact), we forced a turnover when we needed it the most. We forced 3 and outs. We only committed one penalty. This team played a damn near flawless game. 

 Think Obi is gonna catch the ball, you bet your sweet ass he is.

Yet Today I’ve seen threads complaining about excessive celebrations? I’ve seen threads bitching about Tate Forcier’s attitude. People enjoy this fucking victory. This imhe represents a major turning point in the RR era at Michigan. I don’t know that any defense in the country that could have stopped our offense yesterday. Maybe UConn will go 5-7 this year? But maybe they will go 11-1. This victory was HUGE. Enjoy it for Christ’s sake. Don’t bitch and worry about what you can’t control. If you worry about what you can’t control Tay Odoms will do this to you.

Yeah get some fool. You Huskies SUCK!!!!

Are we ready for Notre Dame? You bet your ass we are. Irish you dudes are going down in a hard way next Saturday. South Bend prepare to be Denarded.