Big Problems at the Big House

Michigan's head football coach, Lloyd Carr, has had his share of losses to go with some awesome wins. But nothing could be as embarrassing as having to explain why the Wolverines lost to, of all the teams they could have delivered a sound drubbing to, (gasp!), Appalachian State (to the tune of 34-32) this past Saturday.

And letting Appy State beat Michigan at the Big House...if this doesn't get the Athletic Department's blood boiling, what will? As it stands, of all the elite programs in college football where winning is taken seriously, Michigan is one place where you do not want to be in the hot seat because you're not living up to everyone's expectations. And after this demoralizing upset, Carr finds himself once again on that dreaded hot seat...to some of his fans, he's too conservative, too old-school for their liking. Others feel that even though his track record has included some huge wins over teams like Ohio State for instance, lately victories over top-tier teams have been hard to come by. (Which isn't the least bit surprising: a cooldown in victories of that caliber are to be expected.)

Now this. Appalachian State?

For those who couldn't stomach Notre Dame's blowout loss to Georgia Tech, life seems a bit easier now. Same for the good ol' Buckeyes. How about them Florida Gators? USC? The Wolverines were expected to make some noise, even vie for a possible BCS bid...whatever that BCS stuff means anyway is a total crock. Now those chances of making a BCS bid are history, much less an opportunity to contend for a national championship. Where the Wolverines' heads were at on Saturday afternoon is beyond me, but they sure weren't in Ann Arbor from the looks of things. Then again those Appalachian State Mountaineers proved that they could play with the best of them but that'd be an understatement: the Mountaineers made Michigan go round in circles pretty much the entire game.

Now Lloyd Carr's darkest hour has arrived & with it a ballclub that shot themselves in the foot against a team it could have easily sent packing by halftime.

Oh wait. The Mountaineers were Division 1-AA champions last season & had the longest winning streak in the nation prior to going up to Ann Arbor. Now they've garnered a lot of hype & other whatnot; the best hope they could have entering this weekend is avoiding a letdown of any kind, letting us know that they're the real deal (& with it a chance to keep their winning streak intact).
As for Michigan, they're going to be going through some hard times up at the Big House. And Lloyd Carr, of all the people you'd want to talk to, is a worried man right now.