The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/213966
from our readers handicap the 2014 season even further by making them play away against two of the toughest opponents on their schedule (one a hated rival) when they should be playing them at home. Does anyone else think this is just a wee bit unfair? This is a critical failure of Dave Brandon and the Michigan athletic department and they should be held accountable and try to change it. How could he agree to this! There was no reason for it and the schedule could have been tweaked to avoid it, at the very least with MSU! It can be fixed now by just switching the MSU home/away schedule starting in 2014 so that the Buckeyes and Spartans are not both at home and both away every other year. I encourage all readers to call or write the Michigan athletic department and give them feedback on this. Tom Bacon Hanover, N.H. Those missives would be better directed to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, Tom, although they won't change anything. Despite what some in East Lansing think, Brandon doesn't run the Big Ten. Scheduling alterations had to be made, given the division realignment. Unfortunately for Michigan, that means heading to East Lansing two years in a row. Wolverines' Struggles Decried Dear The Wolverine: The wheels are more than loose; they have almost fallen off our team. Why has this happened? Why have there been nine different players starting at the five offensive line positions this season? It would seem that spring and fall camp would provide the performances for the coaches to decide who will start and then groom them to handle the duties of the positions. One player has been injured, but coaches generally, including Brady Hoke, do not use that as an excuse. Certainly our rush yards against MSU and Nebraska do not match our history. Minus-69 yards rushing is more than embarrassing. Play calling has been suspect when the running back is sent into the line for no gain time after time. Hoke does not use head phones very often which means he must leave most all of the play calling up to Al Borges. Given our current lack of success it would seem he should be more involved in that part of the game. I want Hoke to be successful, but he needs to be more hands on, especially with the offensive side of the ball. Devin Gardner had an outstanding game against Notre Dame, but lately has not lived up to his expectations. Being sacked 14 times in two games does not help him to do so. The defense has played hard, but the opposing quarterbacks have had too much time to find their receivers. Do the defensive coaches know how to spell "blitz?" The secondary could be helped if the front seven would blitz more and rush the other quarterback. The Wolverine Monday morn-