The Michigan Daily
BELL
From page 2B
either, Michigan likely would have
won. Plus, he's a kicker - the per-
fect scapegoat for a loss.
Is Gingell the main reason Michi-
gan lost? No. A truck could have
driven through the hole in Michi-
gan's offensive line on the final field
goal attempt, and yesterday Carr
said the first miss was because of
blocking miscues, too.
Bad luck: This is a popular excuse
among the fans stuck in denial.
A freak injury to Hart, Brandon
Minor's convenient slip on a two-
point conversion try and a botched
snap on the other attempt doesn't
happen every game. Fans are quick
to point out those examples as rea-
sons why Michigan got "screwed."
Is bad luck the main reason Michi-
gan lost? Not even close. If any-
thing, Appalachian State actually
experienced more bad luck than
Michigan did. Without a dropped
touchdown passby a wide-open
receiver, along with a field goal that
clanged just off the right upright,
the Mountaineers probably would
have won by double digits.
Mike Hart: Someone actually sug-
gested to me that Saturday's loss
was Hart's fault. Granted, the kid
was drunk, but it's still no excuse
for stupidity. Suggesting Hart's per-
formance was anything less than
heroic is absurd. Sitting out large
portions of the second and third
quarters wasn't Hart's decision
- or even Carr's. The team trainer
said he couldn't play. And, follow-
ing Brandon Minor's fumble, Hart's
persistence to get back in the game
finally paid off. He came in and car-
ried the team on his back, almost
preventing Michigan from endur-
ing the most embarrassing loss in
its 100-plus-year history.
es' fault? Then it must be execution,
right? A barrage of dropped balls,
fumbled snaps, stupid penalties and
missed assignments would point
to this being potentially the key
downfall on Saturday. But let's be
honest: It's no fun blaming execu-
tion. Fans need a player or a coach
to blame. Execution can't be burned
in effigy.
So what does this prove? Besides
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 7B
went wrong for Saturday to go the
way it did. So before everyone gives
up on the season, just take a deep
breath and chill. The players insist
that Saturday's mistakes are fixable.
If it's this time next week and
there's another list of 10-plus things
I could blame for a loss against Ore-
gon, then it might be time to pinch a
little harder.
- Bell blames the officials; it's
the cool thing to do. Hecan be
reached at scotteb@umich.edu.
the fact that it's not one person's
Execution: So it's not all the coach- fault, I guess it also proves that a lot
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