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Michigan Approaching The End of An Era Against Ohio State

By Alex Dale

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Well, we are approaching the end of an era. Coming off a horrid home loss to Maryland, all but knocking Michigan out of a bowl game, there are but a few hours left in the tragic life of the 2014 Michigan football team.

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The season started ugly in South Bend (let’s ignore the Appalachian State game), and skidded through mediocrity, frustration and incompetence. In Columbus, the season will end in a manner just as ugly as it started, but then, at least, it will be over.

It is also the end for coach Brady Hoke, whose maddening ineptitude has been magnified this season.  Surely interim athletic director Jim Hackett will pull the cord on a coaching regime which has seen its win total drop from 11 in 2011, to 8 the next year, just 7 wins last year and, barring a miracle against Ohio State, 5 this season.

While fans may have hated the Rich Rodriguez years, the team did have an upward trajectory, improving their record each year.

On top of the losing on the field, Michigan’s unwillingness to fire Hoke midseason has led to multiple top recruits fleeing the sinking ship that Michigan is.

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Most recently, within minutes of Maryland scoring their go-ahead touchdown, four-star running back commit Mike Weber announced his de-commitment, adding insult to injury for the Wolverines. This 2015 commit diaspora has left Michigan with a class of just 7 players, only five with four-stars on Rivals.

It is also the end for Devin Gardner, who will play his final game this week.  Gardner, who, like Hoke, came in with plenty of noise as a five-star in-state recruit, has seen his favorability plummet. After temporarily switching to wide-receiver when Denard Robinson held the quarterback reins, he took over the starting job at the end of 2012.

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    • Gardner had plenty of raw talent, but instead of improving with two years as starter, he has regressed. His decision-making and accuracy have held Gardner back, leading to some disastrous showings, while his big-play ability has seemed to disintegrate with time.

    Gardner is by all accounts a great guy, so it really is a shame he couldn’t have had a better end to his career at Michigan. A player who stuck around for two different adversity-filled coaching regimes, played through injury and never showed any quit or defeatism deserved more. But these are the breaks.

    It will surely be the end of an era following Michigan’s finale against Ohio State this coming Thanksgiving Weekend. The real question is what the new beginning will be for the maize and blue.

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    Written by GBMWolverine Writer — Alex Dale

    Go Blue — Wear Maize!


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