Oh, how far the mighty have fallen.
Remember last season, when the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines traveled to the Horseshoe to face the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes with a BCS title game berth on the line? For those who have forgotten, after a back-and-forth battle, Ohio State held on for a 42-39 win in what was billed as the "Game of the Century."
Michigan fans tried to salvage their team's title hopes, campaigning endlessly for a rematch. Instead, the Wolverines were chosen to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl and were dominated by the University of Southern California Trojans 32-18 in Pasadena, dropping to No. 8 in the final polls.
Flash forward to 2007, and the Michigan faithful were again touting their Wolverines as favorites for the national championship. With a veteran quarterback in Chad Henne, star receivers Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington and tailback Mike Hart, a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, all the bluster almost seemed justified.
The Wolverines were ranked No. 5 in both polls going into their game last week against Appalachian State, the two-time defending Div. I-AA champions.
Apparently, the pollsters forgot about defense.
Such an error might seem strange, seeing as the mantra "defense wins championships" is purported constantly in both college football and the NFL. But superstars on offense are often favored over a top defense in the media.
The Wolverines lost four first-team All-Big Ten performers on defense, including Lamar Woodley, the winner of the 2006 Ted Hendricks Award, given to the top defensive end in college football.
Woodley's absence was evident when the Mountaineers handed Michigan a 34-32 loss in Ann Arbor. Some deemed the game the greatest upset in college football history, and the Wolverines and their fans were left reeling.
Hoping to salvage its season, Michigan welcomed the Oregon Ducks to the "Big House" on Saturday. Instead, they were put to shame once again. The Wolverines suffered their worst loss since 1968 and now are 0-2 on the season. The last time they opened a season with two home losses was 1959.
As easy as it is to bash Lloyd Carr and the Michigan squad, Mike Bellotti and the Ducks deserve a lot of the praise for their game plan and gutsy play-calling, highlighted by an early two-point conversion and a touchdown run by tailback Jonathan Stewart on fourth and two from the 3 yard line, which made the score 18-7 and visibly deflated the Wolverines.
Quarterback Dennis Dixon toyed with the Michigan defense and led his team to 624 total yards and a halftime lead of 32-7. For the second straight week, a spread offense and a running quarterback befuddled the defense, and though Oregon fell off a little in the second half, injuries to Henne and Hart took away any hope of a dramatic Michigan comeback.
Not that the offense was much better with its stars on the field, racking up yards but coming up short time and time again on the plays that mattered.
Once a perennial contender, Michigan has now dropped out of the polls for the first time since the final 2005 rankings. Following a second-straight subpar performance for a team with such high hopes just two weeks ago, the heat now has to fall on head coach Lloyd Carr. The team has lost four straight games dating back to the Ohio State contest last season, and that does not sit right with the Michigan faithful.
Carr is in trouble, and he could be gone soon. Henne's leg is doubtful for next week's home game with Notre Dame, another team that has started the season 0-2 after losses to Georgia Tech and Penn State. The Irish have their own problems, as their offense has been listless so far this season, scoring only 13 points in the opening two games. Charlie Weis' Irish team is going through some growing pains after the loss of quarterback Brady Quinn, and they will be just as desperate for a win as Michigan.
The saga of this Wolverines team shows us just how far the Wolverines have fallen. Did anyone ever think that Michigan-Notre Dame game three weeks into the season would be a meaningless game, with only the right to be the lesser of two massive underperformers at stake?
There's a first time for everything.
