{.alignleft .size-medium .wp-image-309 width=”224” height=”300”}So Michigan lost to Michigan State. Denard Robinson showed that he is not perfect, and is in fact a sophomore quarterback who has only started half a dozen games. The Bandwagon is suddenly much lighter than it was a week ago when Michigan was ranked.
Yes, it’s disappointing. But not unexpected.
Two years ago, the Wolverines won 3 games. Last year they won 5. This year they have already matched that total halfway through the season. They need just one more win to get to that elusive “bowl-eligible” status. In my mind, a “successful” season means 7 wins. 7 wins means Rich Rod gets at least another year to continue to work his system now that he has his players. I’d love for them to win more, but 7 in my mind is the minimum.
After Michigan went 5-0, I looked at the rest of the schedule:
Sat, Oct 9 vs #17 Michigan State
Sat, Oct 16 vs #15 Iowa
Sat, Oct 30 \@Penn State
Sat, Nov 6 vs Illinois
Sat, Nov 13 \@Purdue
Sat, Nov 20 vs #18 Wisconsin
Sat, Nov 27 @#1 Ohio State
To get to 7 wins, Michigan needs 2 wins out of those 7 games. Those “must win” games to me are the first two games of November: against Illinois and Purdue. If Michigan can take care of business in those two games, they will be all set. That leaves 5 games against MSU, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State– all probable losses when you look at them individually. But if they can steal one of those five, they can get to 8 wins. If they can steal two, they can get a nice post-season showing with 9 wins.
They already failed the first of the five attempts at stealing a win. But there’s still four more chances, and even if they fail those, they can get to 7 wins for a winning record and get to a bowl game.
Let’s cheer on our Wolverines and root for them to rise up against these strong teams. There’s a lot of football left to be played.