NFL
By: Joe Cardoso
The pre-season hype surrounding this year Michigan Wolverines team was at a raging boil by the time the ball kicked off Saturday night. With a championship defense and the savior at quarterback Shea Patterson. Well, no one told the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame any of these things because the Irish BROUGHT it early and often. Michigan had some very costly penalties and weak play calling that resulted in a 24-17 loss on the road to open the season.
Let’s start with the 1st half which saw a player ejected and one of the worst plays calls I have ever seen with that third-down run play. It was a little jarring to see the offensive line show signs of the same issues we saw last year, and the play calling was not something that would have Lincoln Riley or any of the elite offensive minds in college football excited. A school that prides itself on having the best of everything as the players had cramping issues to add insult to injury.
We now have 17 straight losses on the road to ranked teams and social media was having a ball giving Jim Harbaugh the business. To the point that former Wolverine Braylon Edwards was suspended by the Big Ten Network for his comments on the team. 1.8 yards per carry for the game and Shea Patterson looked like a guy still trying to find his way in Harbaugh offense. The maize and blue looked unprepared and lacked any juice until the end and fell short. One would hope this can be something to build off of and they must improve as the season rolls on.
We all saw that this team is not at the level we had it during the preseason, but still, a ton of time to get things right. Patterson must get better, which wideout will step up and be the guy? Was Chris Evans hurt? Why did he not get more touches? The helmet hit by Winovich led to a Notre Dame touchdown and crushed any good vibes heading into halftime. Moving forward this team will get things fixed and this could be the wakeup call they needed. Sometimes reading your own press clippings hurts you and all the pressure is on the head coach. I have said before until he wins a big one all the other stuff means nothing to me or Michigan fans.
We move onto a home game against Western Michigan could be just what the doctor ordered. Slow down on the Heisman campaign for Shea Patterson talk, let the kid get in the swing of things and the defense will take this game personal with 9 starters back. Harbaugh is the one under the gun and he needs to open things up and find some big plays and better offensive line play.
Follow me @JoeCardoso301 all season for my weekly Michigan wrap up. Until then #GoBlue
