9.Notre Dame Stadium 

A highlight from last weeks USF vs ND game

I remember a short time ago when the Big House was outdated but now is a thing of beauty. At least the Big House had some sort of stats and video for replays before all the updates. Going to a game at Notre Dame Stadium is like going back in time to 1955 in Docs DeLorean. I think all the fans drive there wind up old model Ts to the Stadium every Saturday to tail gate. Don't even get me going on the turf and the mess that it is. Seems like every game I watch the turf is a giant mess. Grass flying everywhere. The score board is a thing of 1975 with giant bulbs for score. No replays or stats. I will give it this. It does have cool clip art(like hands clapping) that displays a long the bottom. That is pretty 1992. So if you wanna go back in time then check a game out at Notre Dame Stadium... Bring your top hat.

8.Notre Dame Weather

Ehh..2008

I swear to god when I click over to NBC to watch ND the weather is always awful. Its like South Bend has rain monsoons every Saturday. If Michigan has a secondary hating god then Nortre Dame has a shitty weather god. I think they give a rain poncho with every season ticket purchase.
7.The Irish Ginger Dancing Mascot guy... thing.
Every year I have to look at some new pimpled face kid jumping around on the side line. I would love to see this try out. Like a line of 19 year old gingers all lined up doing their best "who stole my lucky charms?" impression. It may get higher ratings then American Idol.

6.The Fan Base(besides the user Irish)
I have met a lot of you and anytime ND loses.. Its the Big Ten officials fault. Our coach sucks. We had dudes hurt. Blah Blah Blah. Armando Allen didn't step out of bounds... Oh yeah? I was there! Remember?

1.Brian Kelly
Hey I like tough coaches as much as the other but I would be embarrassed if I were a fan and the University. The dude is straight up belittling the player. How is this a teaching moment? I got a hold of a mouth reader and this what got out the clip.
KELLY: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
KELLY: YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! WHEN I GET YOU IN PRACTICE I WILL CUT OFF YOUR HEAD!
KELLY: I WILL PUNCH YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE! I DON'T CARE! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME! I WILL KICK YOUR DOG ON SUNDAY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME PENIS BREATH!?
It was something like that. I mean come on. Like I said I know football is all about screaming but this is drunkin sailor yelling. I never liked you at GVSU and I don't like you now. I do think he can make it at ND but he has to be careful. The same kinds that hated on RR at Michigan will be doing the same at ND in no time if they haven't already. We saw what negativity can do to a program. It isn't pretty.

Expected 2012 Prospects:	Position	247sports	Scout
Erik Magnuson	OT	**** 96 OVR	****
Caleb Stacey	OG	*** 85 OVR	***
Chris Wormley	DE/DT	**** 96 OVR	****
A.J. Williams	TE/OL	*** 86 OVR	***
Matt Godin	DE/DT	**** 91 OVR	***
Anthony Standifer	CB/S	*** 87 OVR	***
Royce Jenkins-Stone	LB	**** 93 OVR	****
Pharoah Brown	DE	**** 92 OVR	***
Mario Ojemudia	DE/LB	*** 89 OVR	****
Greg Garmon	RB	**** 92 OVR	****
Danny O'Brien	DT	**** 93 OVR	****
Jordan Payton	WR	**** 92 OVR	****
Zach Banner	OT	**** 94 OVR	*****
Efe Scott-Emuakpor	WR	** 77 OVR	**
As of now, not visisting:
Tom Strobel	DE	**** 93 OVR	****
Kyle Kalis	OL	**** 96 OVR	*****
Yuri Wright	CB	***** 98 OVR	****
Amara Darboh	WR	**** 94 OVR	****
Aziz Shittu	DE	**** 95 OVR	****
Josh Garnett	OT	**** 96 OVR	*****
Darius Powe	WR	*** 89 OVR	***
Expected 2013 Prospects:
Shane Morris	QB	**** 97 OVR	*****
Steve Elmer	OT	**** 97 OVR	N/R
Kyle Bosch	OT/OG	**** 96 OVR	****
Wyatt Shallman	RB/DE	**** 94 OVR	N/R
Jon Reschke	LB	**** 92 OVR	N/R
Shaq Wiggins	CB	*** 88 OVR	N/R
Dymonte Thomas	S	N/R	N/R
Matt Miller	DE	N/R	N/R
Cameron Dillard	OG	N/R	N/R
Laquon Treadwell	WR	N/R	N/R
Kenton Gibbs	DT	N/R	N/R
Poet Thomas	DT	N/R	N/R
Brogan Roback	QB	N/R	N/R
Cameron Burrows	DB	N/R	N/R
Taco Charlton	DE	N/R	N/R
State College bound?
Ben Gedeon	ATH	N/R	N/R
Bri'onte Dunn	RB	**** 94 OVR	*****

Updates
-According to Justin Hopkins of 247sports, Darius Powe is having trouble finding a flight out to Michigan, and might reschedule. He is also uncertain that Joshua Garnett will visit before his season ends.
-There have been strong rumblings that Bri'onte Dunn may not be able to make it to Ann Arbor this weekend. Until his plans are set in stone, I'll separate him from the "expected" column.
-According to mspeedkills, Joshua Garnett will likely visit for the Ohio State game.
-Kyle Kalis has a 7:30 game on Saturday, so he won't be able to make it.
-Steve Wilfong of 247sports says that 2013 OL Kyle Bosch will visit for the Michigan/ND game.
-Penn State's 247sports site is reporting that Bri'onte Dunn and Ben Gedeon are heading to State College this weekend.

Bold = Michigan Commit
I'll continue to update the list as things change. To contact me, either find me on twitter @ScoutExileMM, e-mail me at scoutxile@gmail.com, or find me on facebook. Go Blue!

Offense
I felt like I barley watched the offense. With the defense scoring 14 pts and some long drives(and weather) the offense didn't get as many plays in as one would hope but they still looked solid. Half the time I thought I was watching a bootleg copy of Rich's offense but with an extra TE. Denard didn't do anything crazy but it seems that if Michigan needs him to they can go "all Denard" when they need first downs or 50+ yard TDs. I liked what I saw out of the running backs. I hope they get even more touches. Fitz got better as the game went on. His one long rip should have went for more but for some odd reason he ran at the safety instead of cutting off to the left for more yards. He also had a nice Mike Hart moment as he juked left behind the LT when the hole closed.. Like a woooo moment. I also think Shaw looked good in his only 4 carries. As he ripped off a long TD run and did some other nice things. The WR spot was sorta quite with the big names only getting one catch and Gallon had a nice catch.

Denards passing was still not where it should be as he left Koger out to dry and missed Dileo which may have been a TD if he does. It did seem the offense was ramping up before the weather went all crazy. If anything Michigan seems very flexible. I liked what I saw.

Defense
Whats this? Blitzing? What is that? You can do that? I thought that was against the rules. It was nice to see that from a Michigan team since Ron "freaking" English. I will say the team looked very shaky in the first drive and in zone coverage. I think the first drive there was a lot of butter flies. Lots of confusion in the secondary. Michigan didn't allow a big play which was nice for a change. The d-line didn't do much and them getting pressure on the QB without a blitz is troubling. Unless the ghost of Brandon Graham enters Roh and Black body then I doubt we will see much pressure all year. The LB got subbed in and out a lot. Kenny was alright. Missed on a sack when he had a free shot. Ryan looked good with his chances and the coaching seems to be helping the whole unit. T-Wolf looked great before he went down on ST(why). Outside of that the back 4 looked alright. They got nickle and dime to death.

Back to the blitzing and Kovacs. I like it. It came from different gaps and wasn't shown until the snap. Kovacs timed them perfect and got a full head of steam on both. Also the 14 pts scored by Herron was awesome since he has been a bench player his whole career. Nice to see him make some huge plays. I still see big issues with the defense but I think we can be average.. Cross your fingers.

Special Teams
The black eye of the day. Terrible kick off coverage and a blocked FG. At least those kinds of things can be corrected in practice. I know it is a philosophy thing but I can't say I am crazy about having T-wolf playing on ST and any other big time starter. Also we still don't know if a kicker exists on the roster. Wile was ok in punting... Hangerup get your head out of your ass ASAP.

The Good
-One two punch running backs?
-OLine play
-Deanrd ball is alive and well.
-Defensive adjustments?!?! Yes it is real.. Not a myth.
-Kovacs walk on QB crush special
-Herron setting records
-Competent coaching
-Mitch McGary having a blast

The Bad
-Zone defense
-Dline couldn't get much done vs a "meh" Mac dline
-Mike Martin played? pretty quite.
-Kenny's whiffed sack
-Denard still not as accurate on some throws as you would like.

The Ugly
-Weather
-Kick Coverage
-Special Team.. Not so special
-The Pop Evil song
-Troy getting hurt... On Special Teams

The Bizarre
Is this dude real? Looks like a Wax Figure...

You wake up by a sudden jolt, like you've been struck by a bolt of lightning. A cold sweat washes over you and a confusing about what you've just experienced. You run to the bathroom, do the ritual splash of cold water to your face and slowly raise your head to look at yourself in the mirror. "What the hell was that all about?" you mutter. The thoughts of what just happened start racing through your head. Self-imposed sanctions? A school record worst 9 game loss season and an overall record of 15-22 after 3 years? "No that couldn't have been real?, that was a nightmare!"

Beleive it or not, that is reality for Michigan football fans. The past 3 1/2 years have seemed like a promising dream that turns into your worst nightmare, especially for the last 2 of those years. Michigan Started the the 2009 College Football season, 4-0 and in 2010, 5-0, only to finish with sub-par records. In 2009 Michigan finished with a total record of 5 wins and 7 losses, missing a bowl appearence for the second straight year. In 2010 the outcome was better than the previous year, finishing with 2 more victories and an invitation to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. The way these teams started their seasons with so much promise, then only to see them dismantle right in front of you week after week was unbelievable. It seemed as if these teams were getting worse as the season progessed rather than getting better like most football teams do. The Gator Bowl appearence, Which was Rich Rod's first bowl since being named the head coach of Michigan, was a disaster With a final score of 52 to 14 to the SEC's Mississippi State Bulldogs. It was A game in which the offense had been stagnet the defense it's usual terrible self. It seemed that after that game Michigan fans began to really start evaluating Rich Rod's body of work and wondering if this was the right guy for our football team.

The record on the field wasn't the only reason Rich Rodriguez was crushing the dreams of every Michigan football fan. It was also the self-imposed sanctions and the 3 years of NCAA probation that really sent bad vibes throughout the Rich Rod coaching era. For failure to monitor practice hours Michigan was forced to apply self-imposed sanctions before any ruling from the NCAA would be handed down. Michigan reduced 130 hours of practice time, put limitations on coaching staff and cut the number of assistants or quality-control staff - from 5 to 3. They also banned them from practices, games or coaching meetings for the rest of the 2010 season. Michigan did avoid the most serious of these charges, which was that Rodriguez failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the program. The University argued against that finding when it went before the committee on infractions. After reviewing the fact, the committee lowered the charge to failure to monitor.

The Legacy that Rodriguez left behind at Michigan isnt a legacy at all. He seemed to be the girl you date right after you just got out of a serious relationship, trying something new with someone who's not really your type, a rebound, as some might call it. Going from a pro-style offense to the spread and a 4-3 defense to a 3-3-5 was like going from blondes to brunettes. It's a nice change but you know it won't last. But, hey, we are all family being Michigan fans, so we can talk about it. Let's focus on the future and what's to come.
Michigan starts play this Saturday, September 3rd. A new era of coaching staff begins at Michigan this year and let's celebrate what our future may hold. A new beginging is always exciting to see what direction it goes and how much growth is made. Let's pray that our dreams of the future don't recede back to the nighmares of our past.

Enjoy the Game and Go Blue
Ryan Millard
Once a year poster on Midnight Maize.