Mich-ing In Action

You heard all of the cliches. All good things must come to an end. It happens to the best of us. Theres a first time for everything. No pain, no gain. Well, when it comes to the 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team, all of that and more couldnt be more true. The winningest program in college football history will be missing its first bowl game appearance in 33 years. No wolverine team has ever suffrered 9 loses in a single season. Finally, its a been 21 years since Michigan lost to its 3 biggest rivals, (MSU, ND, OSU) in the same season. With all of these unfamiliar encounters facing the wolverines, in their defense, now is the best time for optimism and the "Ill give you a pass on the terrible season card". The program did lose 7 starters to the NFL Draft, not to mention the 1st overall pick in the draft was Left Tackle Jake Long (Dolphins). The offense alone lost 4 valuable and significant starters at basically every position. QB Chad Henne (Dolphins) who is Michigan's all-time career leader in passing yards. I think he needs to be protected by, ummmmm, o yea, the number 1 pick Jake Long. Long needs to open up holes for, ummmm, o yea, Mike Hart (Colts) who is Michigan's all time-time career leader in rushing yards . Also, theres a position that needs to catch the ball. We had someone there too. Man, what was his name, o yea Mannigham (Giants). With loses that hold that much substance could explain why the 2008 Wolverines looked like a freshman High School team at times with a a few true freshman starting on the offensive side of the ball. However, with Rich Rodriguez now entering his second season, and 1st official off season with the program, he has the opportunity to redeem himself and be in a position to bring in his own recruiting class and prove hiring him was not the biggest mistake in the programs history, outside of scheduling to play the mighty Appalachian State Mountaineers on opening day of 2007, a game Michigan just knew it would lose. His spread offense looked like poetry in motion at WVA and looked so pathetic at Michigan. It did have signs of explosion but was extremely inconsistent. But with a fresh start next year, and pride on the line for this historic program, look for Michigan to bounce back and be competitive and show why their program reached the heights that it has over the past century.