Michigan Football: A Loss to Michigan State Or Ohio State Should Seal Brady Hoke’s Fate
By Billy George
@billzonwheelz
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Before last year’s blowout loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, University of Michigan head coach Brady Hoke was already under a tremendous amount of fire. Since going 11-2, winning a BCS bowl game and beating Ohio State University in his first year at Michigan, Hoke’s Wolverines boast an overall record of 17-14, 0-2 versus Ohio State, 0-2 in bowl games and a 1-8 versus AP top-25 teams.
That’s not living up to Michigan football standards, and it doesn’t show much promise for the Wolverines’ future. But just how bad of job has the Dayton, Ohio native done? Let’s put things into perspective.
Through five games this season, the Wolverines have already lost three of them. In those three losses, they haven’t been competitive at all, losing by an average of exactly 21 points per game (87 to 24). To further demonstrate how bad of a job the Hoke-lead Wolverines have done thus far, they are the first team in Michigan football history to have lost three games in the month of September. The new mantra of the Michigan faithful should be Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”
Or, should it really be “Wake Me Up When Brady Hoke’s Job Ends”?
I imagine it’s hard for Wolverines fans to be optimistic at the moment as their team has lost eight of its last 11 games. Still to play on its schedule are two main rivals, Michigan State and Ohio State. After losing seven starters on offense and two first-round NFL draft picks on defense, the Buckeyes have had to do a lot of rebuilding this season. Never was that more apparent than when they lost at home to Virginia Tech in Week 3, but thanks to the recruiting abilities of head coach Urban Meyer, there are many young Buckeyes stars in the making. Beating Ohio State in Columbus should be a very tough task for this Michigan squad.
Last season, Michigan got absolutely embarrassed by the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, Michigan, gaining just 168 yards on offense, scoring just six points and being shut out in the second half. Led by junior quarterback Connor Cook – the 2014 Rose Bowl MVP – the Spartans will come into the 2014 contest with great vengeance, especially after losing on prime-time television to the Oregon Ducks a couple of weeks back.
The Wolverines will have a target on their back, and the Spartans, traditionally referred to as Michigan’s “little brother,” will wreak havoc in Ann Arbor.
Last weekend, Michigan lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers for just the third time since the 1960s! The Wolverines are now just 2-3 on the year and have already lost to two of its rivals. Of course, this is following a bowl loss and 1-6 finish to the 2013 season. Yet, after the loss on Saturday, Hoke doesn’t seem a bit concerned. “I think this team can still win the Big Ten championship,” Hoke asserted in Saturday’s post-game interview. “I really do.”
When asked if he was concerned about the morale of his team, Hoke replied, “Not at all.”
Is Hoke comfortable with mediocrity? Does he not care that his team is not living up to Michigan football standards? What will he do to fix his team’s problems on the football field? If Hoke’s team loses to Michigan State and Ohio State this season, he could very well not have a job at Michigan anymore … not at all.
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