The 2012 Look Ahead: The Schedule

Brian Kelly can't wait to play this guy again. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Well, the 2011 season is in the books, and by almost all accounts it was a resounding success. Eleven wins, beat Notre Dame in the first ever night game at the Big House, beat Ohio...finally, beat Virginia Tech in overtime in the Sugar Bowl – hard to look back, even with the losses to Sparty and Iowa on the road, and remember this season, Brady Hoke's first, and team 132, as anything other than memorable.

But 2011 is sooo last year.

We can only sit back and enjoy past accomplishments for so long. It's also January and we don't go gaga over recruiting, so we need something to talk about.

So what's going on for 2012? What can we look forward to? Who's leaving? What incoming and red-shirt freshman will make an immediate impact? How does the schedule look? This series of posts will attempt to address each one of these topics.

First up, the schedule, after the break.

Mike Martin Gets Into It with Ohio's Brewster, David Molk's Sugar Bowl Injury

Martin following the win against Ohio on Nov. 26, 2011.

Senior Bowl practice is well underway, and Michigan defensive tackle Mike Martin is making news after his brief altercation with Ohio center Mike Brewster.

[Brewster] got into a brief shoving match with Mike Martin (DT, Michigan) after Martin beat him on an inside move during position drills.  Brewster and Martin are familiar foes, of course, because of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. "He's one of my best competitors," Brewster said after practice. "I love going against him."

This doesn't sound anything more than a little extra fire due to the long rivalry between these two guys who have been starters for their respective teams for many years. Frankly, I'd be surprised if this didn't happen. Nice to see the hate is alive and well going into the next level.

If I were a media member covering the Senior Bowl, I'd like the opportunity to ask Mike how well Brewster stacks up against David Molk, who beat Brewster out for top Big Ten honors and the Rimington Award.

More on Molk, and some hardcore NFL training video after the jump.

Brady Hoke on Paterno's Passing

Via UM media relations:

University of Michigan head football coach Brady Hoke on the passing of Joe Paterno:

"I am certainly saddened by the news today of Coach Paterno's passing. College football has lost one of its greatest, a coaching icon. Even though I was just an assistant when our teams faced one another, I feel honored to have shared the field with Joe. His players' love for him, it shows how he touched their lives and it tells who he was as a man. He will be missed. His mark on Penn State and college football will never be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Joe's family and friends and the entire Penn State community."

Related:
Joe Paterno Dead at 85

Joe Paterno Dead at 85

Joe Paterno, 1926-2012

At a time of unprecedented scandal at Penn State University, Joe Paterno died this morning, of complications due to lung cancer. Joe was not at the center of the scandal, but was certainly well within it's reach. I hope that in time, Joe's legacy will not just reflect the latest events in State College, PA.

RIP Joe. You will be missed.

Doing My Small Part to Fight SOPA & PIPA

This is a protest.

Please join us, along with fellow Michigan blog The MZone, and thousands of websites around the country, in our modest protest of the proposed legislation that would drastically change how each and every one of us uses the internet. Being an internet maker, as well as a consumer, I feel compelled to act.

I don't claim to know exactly how it all works, but from what I've been reading, it's not good. Here's a helpful video to explain what SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) is and what it could do.



Want to know more? Go here.