Blast Shields Down: Basketball on Grass

Our Messiah

I didn’t go to the Homecoming game yesterday vs. Purdue because I have some sort of cold (complete with fever, coughing and copious amounts of snot draining down my throat), but it allowed me the opportunity to sit smack dab in front of my TV and thanks to the power of DVR watch every play in pretty good detail. I just fast forwarded through all the commercials and time between plays and focused on the action. This had the added bonus of my not really having to listen to the Big Ten Network commentators. I’m going to make a few quick observations before moving on to my main point:

- Michigan played well yesterday, offensively and defensively.

- While Michigan only got two sacks, the line seemed to contain Painter pretty well and actually closed the pocket on him.

- Henne was 21-28 for 268 yards and 2 touchdowns… just incredible.

- Hart had 21 carries for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns… in the first half. I’m starting to really get excited about the Heisman, he just better not be hurt badly.

- I thought Carlos Brown ran the ball well as Hart’s replacement, and he didn’t fumble, which was a nice change of pace for Hart backups.

- K.C. Lopata: 2/2 FGs, 6/6 PATs.

“When you look at our season, we needed a game that we played our best game. I think we did that." –Lloyd Carr

The team really did play great, and my confidence has actually been restored to this team for the first time since the summer.

Finally, what the hell was Tiller doing at the end of the game? Did he pull Painter to give his second string QB some reps, or was it because Painter was sucking? And what was with the two onside kicks at the end of the game?

Was he trying to give Michigan some practice fielding them seeing as they have been shitty at it (and special teams as a whole really) all season?

Did he actually think he had a chance to come back down by 41 with about two minutes remaining in the game?

Does Basketball on Grass require onside kicks at the end of the game? Is this like full court press?

Was he trying to make the score look less embarrassing by putting two touchdowns on Michigan’s second string defense?

Was he having so much fun that he didn’t want Michigan to run out the clock and have the game be over?

Okay, half of those ideas are complete jokes, but I honestly don’t know what was going through his head. Maybe someone else has an idea about this. If I’m not mistaken, he still had all the rest of his starters in (save Painter), which I don’t really understand seeing that the outcome of the game was a forgone conclusion and Michigan had pulled all of their starters. Give your scrubs a chance to play, Tiller!