In this Michigan football news and rumors update, the writers over at USA Today are just as perplexed by the Michigan Wolverines' shutout loss to Notre Dame on Friday as many Michigan fans are.
Dan Wolken of USA Today Sports placed the Wolverines atop his weekly "Misery Index" on Sunday - a ranking system that Wolken says embodies "the way in which a team won or lost, expectations vis-à-vis program trajectory and traditional inferiority complex of fan base all factor into this ranking."
What was Wolken's biggest gripe with the Wolverines' loss? It seems he was less miffed with the team and more thrown off by Hoke's relative lack of answers after the defeat:
Leaving quarterback Devin Gardner and receiver Devin Funchess in deep into the fourth quarter, long after the game had been decided, looked like coaching malpractice when both suffered injuries. Gardner's in particular was unnecessary, because it came on a hard hit — his third in the fourth quarter alone — on the last play of the game. It's unknown whether either will miss time, but Hoke's answer to why he kept playing Gardner — "Because he's our quarterback" — was ridiculous.
The follow-up about risking injury in that situation was even more absurd. "Yeah, anything's a risk," Hoke said. "To me, the risk was starting him, maybe. I mean, I don't know. We're trying to develop a team." What does that even mean? Either way, things got testy shortly thereafter. Hoke was asked what's missing. His answer? "Winning." OK, what do you need to do then? "You win the game. You play, you don't turn over the ball. You don't give up big plays." Amazing stuff, really. Coaches often will avoid talking too much about what happened without seeing film, but Hoke couldn't come up with something better than that?
With the outcry currently being pointed at Hoke from all corners of the Michigan Wolverines' fan base, he will likely have to come up with some different answers in the weeks ahead to pull himself off the proverbial hot seat.
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