College Football: Take a breath Michigan Fan.

Well, that's out of the way.

All that's left now is the silly analysis from silly analysts.

In that spirit, I'll add my own.

1. This was never going to be an immediate turn-around. Although I was hoping that Michigan could squeak out a win in this game, to be honest, I was never very confident they would. In my first run at analyzing the season I had this game as a loss. After thinking a little harder I made it a win. Granted, most of that was probably based on fandom more than actual X's and O's. Optimism that the situation at QB wouldn't be quite that bad.

2. It's too early to bail on Rudock.  In moments of frustration last night, especially after he Schaubed the Pick-six, I was calling for Morris to be put in. I think ALL of Blue Nation was calling for the same thing.  But the guy actually played OK in the second half outside of that interception. In fact, the team looked a LOT better offensively in the 2nd half than in the 1st.  Either way Harbaugh decides to go the reality is his championship winning QB is probably not on this roster.

3. There WAS improvement. Despite struggling in the run game, the O-line looked MUCH better in pass protection than at any time during the Brady Hoke era.  The defensive front 7 looks formidable and Jabrill Peppers is a legitimate stud DB. In fact, I thought the defense played well enough to win the game.  Had Rudock been able to hit wide open WR's down the field on 3 separate occasions (instead of air-mailing them) Michigan could have won that game.

4. I'm unsure whether De'Veon Smith is the RB Michigan is looking for or not.  Yes, the O-Line did not do a great job blocking.  But De'Veon ran himself out of some gains as well.  He missed holes on several occasions, running right into defenders.  He needs to learn patience in the worst way.


All in all it was an OK start to the Harbaugh era, from a coach who has lost his first game at the other schools that he turned around.  For all of the hope and hype of Harbaugh coming to Michigan, we're now looking at the reality that this is a rebuilding process.  One that's going to take more than one off-season and a few good recruiting classes.