It got hairy for a bit there in the first half of the Michigan Wolverines game at Northwestern last Saturday. I was listening to the second quarter on a spotty AM station as we were driving back from hiking at Letchworth State Park. I was swearing profusely at both the mistakes of the players as well as the station going in and out. By the time I got home, the second half was just starting and the game took a 180 degree turn.
It appears that a new trend is for the team to perform poorly in the first half of the game as they get to know their opposition. And then they seem to pull it off in the second half, performing almost miraculous comebacks from being way down. In this last game, Northwestern didn't even have a chance to score in the second half.
Is this the technique of a team ranked #11?
I'm not so sure about this, but it feels good to have a good ranking after a few crappy years. Last week I commented on whether or not they deserved their ranking of 11/12 for my fan beat on Yahoo! Sports.
I definitely believe that the offense is significantly better. I wish that they would stay more consistent and not give us all heart attacks in the first half of each game. Defense is getting quite good at stuffing the opposition. I would say that the most progress has been made in the defense. The offense was also able to post huge numbers last year.
What do you think? Are they a #11 team with their 6-0 record? How will they fare against upcoming rivals, such as Michigan State? I am hoping for the best and still trying to stay cautiously optimistic.
