The Spread

I have heard many fans and sportswriters talking about how Michigan may have a chance once they start the Big Ten season, due to the fact that no teams will run the spread offense. Well of all people to change with the times Joe Paterno of Penn State "has ditched the pro set for a modified spread under the tutelage of Galen Hall." As this article points out on CBS Sportsline, the spread is part of the "constant evolution" of NCAA football.

This is something completely foreign to the Michigan program which has flat out refused to jump into the 21st century of college football.

The sad but awful truth is teams such as Appalachian State and Oregon have finally slapped Lloyd Carr in the face so hard with the spread, there is no denying it any longer. Not that there haven't been plenty of chances and red flags to tell the Michigan program that the future had arrived and Michigan is on the sideline watching, mouth breathing and stunned. Lets see, Northwestern, Michigan State, Utah, Ball State, Texas, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, USC, the list goes on and back a few years.

The article from CBS Sportsline also mentions "Bob Dylan song called The Times They Are a-Changin", that song is the warning that went unheeded, now the song in Ann Arbor is "REM, It's the end of the world as we know it".

All one would have to do is sit and watch other conference games over the past few years and anyone involved with football would see it coming, why didn't Michigan? Well it (the future) is here and Michigan is NOT ready and may pay for it for a few more years unless drastic change happens and happens quick.