Why Michigan Is So Overrated!

Today I saw something that makes me madder than when I write articles for this site and accidentally delete corrections I’ve made and have to redo them. I saw a #3 team get more dominated than the scoreboard had shown by a #20 ranked team. But the worst part is they were at home. Michigan was rated #3 this year by the AP polls, and do you know why? Well, neither do I. Michigan lost their three best players last year; Braylon Edwards, Marlin Jackson, and Earnest Shazor, who guided this team. But without them, Michigan has shown that they’re nothing.

The last time Michigan lost in the Big House was five years ago. That’s over 60 games. To think that a #3 ranked team would lose at home after being unbeaten in the last five years by a #20 team is ludicrous. Now I know some of you Michigan fans out there will comment on this article and say that if Charlie Weis was with Notre Dame last year, they would be ranked higher than #20. But what the hell are you giving excuses for, you have the so-called best “sophomore studs” in the nation. Yeah well those “sophomore studs” showed Michigan fans something they had never seen before — an embarrassment. Michael Hart barely touched the ball today. Injured or not, he had 3 carries for 3 yards, and Notre Dame has one of the 5 best run defenses in the country, so in my opinion he wouldn’t have made the difference.

Secondly, Lloyd Carr is one of the worst coaches in Michigan football history. Every year he gets more talent than almost every other college in the nation, yet he still hasn’t been able to put up a championship with his own recruiting class. I understand that he won one in ’97, but he didn’t recruit or bring up those players. My point is this, Lloyd Carr is not a good coach when it comes to bringing the best out of his players, or coaching a game. And yes, I do know the kind of players that have gone through the Michigan system, Braylon Edwards, Chris Perry and Charles Woodson. But in my opinion those are the type of players that could have been stellar at any college.

Now I want you to look at this Wolverines defense. A defense that gave up over 400 yards to Northern Illinois. That’s right, Northern Illinois! You tell me you can have a number #3 team giving up 400 yards to a team that is ranked somewhere around 60th! The Michigan defense is closer to being terrible than it is to being good. The only reason NIU wasn’t in that game is because they fumbled the ball four times along with an interception. And Michigan still only beat them by 16 points.

Now I want to look at the Wolverine Offense. You will find out what a think about Chad Henne in the next paragraph, so for this one I’ll talk about the rest of them. Jason Avant and Michael Hart are the only other players on this offense that are not as overrated. Breaston on the other hand is. Breaston cannot catch the deep pass. Let me repeat , Steven Breaston CANNOT catch the deep ball. If you watched the game today and last week’s game he dropped a deep pass in both of them. The guy can run with the ball, he just can’t catch it if it’s over 25 yards.

Finally I’m going to tell you why this team was overrated, and in five words. Braylon Edwards and Marlin Jackson. Last year I could have had a decent year throwing to Braylon Edwards, the guy is a nut. But since Chad Henne had Braylon Edward to throw to, it made him look 10x better than he actually is. Chad Henne went 19 of 44 today, that’s a 43% completion rating. Not to mention only one touchdown with an interception in the Red Zone. That’s not just it though; he fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line; now that’s a quarterback who keeps his composure. But back to last year. Braylon Edwards won the Michigan State game and kept them in the Texas game. Without Braylon Edwards the Wolverines wouldn’t be even close to a #3 ranking. On defense Marlin Jackson was a shutdown corner who almost eliminated the threat of their #1 receiver. Now that threat is back, and Michigan pass defense is looking more like the Colts. They can’t stop anybody.

If you have any comments on this article I encourage them. I want to make sure that you know that I still think Michigan is a good team, but they don’t belong anywhere in the top 10 or even the top 15. I have been criticizing people who have had Michigan at the top of their charts from day one, and if you don’t believe me you can look at my comments and read someone of the people I have blown up on. That’s all I have to say.