Michigan suffers historic loss to Northwestern

Rich Rodriguez should be glad that the University of Michigan isn’t expecting overnight success as he attempts to rebuild the Wolverine football program.  Were that the case, he’d likely be out of a job right now following Michigan’s 21-14 home loss to Northwestern.  The defeat dropped the Wolverines to 3-8 on the season, and the eight defeats represent the most single season losses in the 129 year history of Michigan football.

Despite a poorly played, mistake filled first half of football, Michigan headed to the locker room with a 14-7 lead on a Nick Sheridan rushing TD and a blocked punt returned for a score by Ricky Reyes.  Northwestern methodically put an end to the Wolverine chances in the third, however, as CJ Batcher connected for two quick TD passes to stake the Wildcats to the final margin of victory.

Northwestern has very quietly put together a solid season, and the win in Ann Arbor on Saturday improved their record to 8-3.  The Wildcats have won 8 games for the first time since 2000, and for only the fifth time since the school began playing football in 1905.  They’ll have a chance to better their record next weekend at home against 5-6 Illinois.  The win at Michigan was only the second by the Wildcats in the past 21 years.

Michigan’s fortunes, meanwhile, continue to deteriorate with each passing week.  In addition to losing eight games for the first time in program history, the Northwestern setback also set a single season record for home losses (5).  The notoriously rabid fans in Ann Arbor thought better of sticking around in the blustery winter conditions to watch their team bungle their way to another loss, and Michigan Stadium was two-thirds empty by the time the 4th quarter began.  Wolverine Coach Rich Rodriguez said that it was hard to blame the fans for their premature exit:

“It was tough to stay. It's our job to put a team out there that everybody is proud of."

Rodriguez continued by trying to put a positive spin on his team’s disastrous season:

"Everybody's going to judge you on your record, and that's fair. I do think we're making some steps that will eventually show up on game days."

Next Saturday will provide an opportunity for Michigan to end the season on a positive note, though they’re facing one of their toughest opponents of the season as they travel to Columbus for a game against #10 Ohio State.  Despite the short term positive of a big upset, however, a win against the Buckeyes would leave the Wolverines at 4-8 for the season.  It’s hard to take a “moral victory” from that.