My thoughts

As most of you know, my family and I headed up to Ann Arbor for the Western Michigan vs. Michigan game.  Driving up there (2 1/2) hours, we watched the outside temperature go up in the car all the way up to 95 degrees.  So we figured we were going to be stifled by the heat.  We decided to drop the $40 to park at the high school across from Michigan Stadium so we didn’t have to walk to far in the heat.  But once we got in and grabbed our seats, the heat really wasn’t as horrible as we thought it would be.  Yes, it was hot, but there was enough of a breeze so the air was moving and it didn’t really feel like 95.  So we were definitely pleased about that.  And bottled water was $4, we definitely weren’t pleased about that.  My brother made the comment that if the temperature is that high, maybe they should discount the water some and then you wouldn’t have had to deal with all the heat illnesses that they had.  I think I heard somewhere they had to take over 50 people to get cooled down and get some water in them.  Anyways, here’s my thoughts about what I saw, bare in mind, I’m a fan, not a coach.  I don’t know all the in’s and out’s of football like I do baseball, these are just my observations.

• Special teams have to do better on kickoffs.  They were giving way too many yards up on kickoff returns.
• The defense was dead until the pick 6 by Herron.  That play seemed to fire them up.  For the 1st quarter and half the 2nd, I was afraid our defense hadn’t improved.  They weren’t pressuring the QB at all during that time.  They were letting the receivers have a cushion and WMU were taking advantage of it.  But after the pick 6, they got fired up.  Starting hitting harder, pressuring the QB and not to mention 2 touchdowns.  It was so nice to be applauding the defense, it has been awhile.  But if it takes a big play to wake them up then we may get down too far before that happens.  So I hope Mattison can figure out a way to send them out there fired up.  I’m really hoping it was just 1st game jitters.
• The offense looked ok.  I was glad they were moving the ball, 5 to 10 yards at a time because that will help against the good defenses.  But this is Western Michigan, I really expected some more big plays.  There were a few by Shaw before they called the game officially.
• I haven’t heard anything yet on Troy Woolfolk.  I hope we don’t lose him again.  Only thing I’ve heard is a quote by Hoke saying he was going back in if we needed him.  So I’m guessing it was minor.

My family and I sat through it all.  We didn’t run for the stands until they told the players to get off the field.  It rained fast and it rained hard.  Big, huge drops.  It would rain from the right for 5 minutes, then rain from the left for 5 minutes, then stop and the sun will would come out.  We even saw a little bit of hail briefly.  But being as it was 95 degrees before the rain came, it actually felt pretty good.  Not once, even sitting there drenched, did I say it was cold.  Not until we went to Joe’s Crab Shack and sat in the air conditioning soaking wet did I complain.  Then after the 3 hour drive home, sitting in the car wet all the way home and finally changing to dry clothes, did I realize how chilled to the bone I really was.  My wife looked at me kind of funny when I crawled into bed in my PJ bottoms and a hoodie.

But I had a great day.  I always love the atmosphere at “The Big House” on a game day.  The traditions before the game alone are at least worth one trip there.  If you’re a Michigan fan, you have to see a game live.

Pictures from “Maize and Blue Nation” and the “Big House Blog”