First and only loss to a Mid-American Conference team in 25 games (Toledo had a 1-4 record)
Tied for 9th place in the conference standings is the worst since 1962
The only other time Michigan lost all three rivaly games (Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State) was in 1987
Unranked all year
Most weekly appearances in the AP Poll lead is now only single digits over Ohio State
Highest points allowed per game (28.9) in 129 seasons
Most points against (347) a Michigan team in 129 seasons
More points allowed in the 2008 season than in the 11 National Championship seasons combined
Points scored (243) the lowest since 1984
Points-For / Points-Against ratio (0.7) the lowest since 1962
Last in the conference in the following categories: Points scored, Yards per game, Passing yards, Completion percentage, 3rd-down conversion percentage, 1st downs
Overall winning percentage dropped from 74.5% to below 74%
"Winning-est program" lead over Notre Dame cut in half from 0.6% to 0.3%
Cost per victory = $1,666,667 ($5M / 3 wins)
My Views
A winning season was possible with a balanced approach incorporating the new schemes with the existing talent.
Michigan did need to make some changes, and did lose a lot of talent on offense. However, this was not a program in disarray (it is now) that needed to be blown up and rebuilt. The past year has been all negative, both on (The Facts) and off the field (lawsuit & buyout, player defections, coaches asking for more time despite the horrendous play and results).
Since the spread offense is so dependent on the quarterback winning a lot of games consistently does not seem feasible.
The offensive scheme has too much lateral movement with plays netting little or no gain, and resulting in many three-and-out series.
NFL caliber recruits will no longer come
to Michigan (especially QBs) to run the spread offense. Things went so
badly in 2008 that Rodriguez' job is now in jeopardy, which is another
obstacle to recruiting.
The defense went from a team strength to the worst ever in Michigan football history!
A "Michigan Man" would not put himself before the team, the university, our traditions, and the community.
Athletic Director Bill Martin is also responsible for this debacle. He had a full year to find a replacement for Lloyd Carr, the top priority for the AD. He did not even follow his own outline for the search, somehow was unavailable to talk to Les Miles, paid Rodriguez' $2.5M buyout, and then signed a six-year contract with a coach posting an implausible 2-5 record. Rich Rodriguez may have been a good coach elsewhere, but I do not believe that he and the spread offense are the right fit for Michigan.
I sincerely hope that Rich Rod can turn things around immediately, and that My Views are just venting about the 2008 disaster.
Go Blue!
2009 ... Better ... and Worse
The season started out with on a very high note and a 4-0 record! The offensive seemed to be much improved with freshman QB Tate Forcier, who had led the team on TD drives late in a couple of games. But it was all down hill from there.
Despite being competitive in many games, the team collapsed in the second half. Michigan traditionally would take control of the game in the 3rd quarter, but this team self-destructed on both offense and defense after the break. The only win in the final 8 games was over a Division 1-AA team, and included 7 conference losses. The Wolverines finished tied for LAST place with the only conference team that they beat.
Last consecutive losing seasons was back in the early 1960s.
The Rich Rod era has produced 2 of the 5 seasons (out of 130) with more than 6 losses.
The overall winning percentage has dropped from 74.5% to 73.7%, and is now only 0.2% better than Notre Dame.
The team got its first AP rankings since 2007, but dropped out after only three weeks in the polls.
The offense looked better at times scoring 100+ points more than last year. But there were too many turnovers, three-and-outs, and the squad regressed as the season progressed. The offense was last in the conference in time of possession.
The defense was almost as bad as in 2008, allowing almost 28 points per game.
The 2009 team was last in the conference in red zone offense, and second-to-last in red zone defense.
Michigan was by far the worst in the conference in turnover margin (-12).
To add to the off-field drama, Rich Rodriguez is being sued for a real estate deal gone bad. And don't forget about the NCAA investigation into the program related to too many hours of practice. The latter would suck less if the team actually benefited from the excess practice.