MICHIGAN SPORTS AUDIO

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Some fans may clamor for the Detroit Lions to fire head coach Rod Marinelli immediately, if for no other reason than for the team to send a message that it's serious about change.

But this is one scenario where MLive Lions Insider Tom Kowalski thinks the Lions are making the right decision to keep the third-year coach on board, and to evaluate when the season's over.

It shouldn't come as a surprise considering Michigan's 3-8 record, but Wolverines insider John Heuser expects another loss against No. 10 Ohio State - and a big loss at that.

"I do see a pretty big loss," Heuser told WGHN. "Michigan's best hope is that they can get their running game going."

But as Heuser pointed out, Michigan will likely encounter trouble establishing a ground game against the Buckeyes.

Despite Detroit's 0-10 record and its title as the only winless team in the league, Lions insider Tom Kowalski said players haven't quit on coach Rod Marinelli.

"I have not seen any fracturing of this team at all this year," Kowalski said during his weekly hour-long show, The Point After on WDFN.

Former University of Michigan Heisman Trophy winner, and ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard defends his comments when he said "This isn't Michigan, this is like Michigan Tech," (NOTE: Michigan Tech plays at the Division II level and was 8-3 this season) by pointing out that the rest of his comments in the transcript were singing the praises of new head coach Rich Rodriguez. Howard throws his full support behind Rodriguez during the conversation with WTKA, and says that the expectations may have been too high for his first season.

"People got excited..'the spread offense is coming to Ann Arbor, he's going to revolutionize the offense,' I'm like, it doesn't happen overnight," says Howard. "I think when you have those high expectations and they are not reached, then there's a big disappointment, but your expectations have to be realistic."

The last time Lions insider Tom Kowalski picked the team to win was against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that didn't work out so well (Jaguars 38, Lions 14). This week, he's picking them to win again, at home against the Buccaneers, and Kowalski tells WDFN that one of the reasons is because of Tampa Bay's quarterback Jeff Garcia.

"You've got the Garcia factor," says Kowalski. "Garcia lost a couple fumbles last year, which is why the Lions won that game. So, really, that's what you're counting on. You're counting on Garcia to make a couple mistakes that are really going to help you, and to do that, you've got to let it all hang out, you've got to come after him, you've got to blitz a lot."

Last season – John Beilein's first as the Michigan basketball head coach – the Wolverines were able to hang tough with UCLA before the Bruins finally kicked up their play and pulled away for a 15-point win.

But the Wolverines are a year older, and the Bruins have lost some key players, like freshman phenom Kevin Love, now in the NBA. Beilein expects his team to be more resilient this time around.

For years, Michigan State's football program was known as one that had a fragile mentality – one that could just as easily upset the top team in the conference as lose to the worst team in the conference.

In less than two years, head coach Mark Dantonio has helped stabilize the program, helping the Spartans stay even-keeled. During his weekly Big Ten teleconference, he says the players are responsible for the turnaround.

While Michigan's offense has been under scrutiny for its inconsistency, perhaps the defense is under the microscope even more so, as it is a veteran unit for the Wolverines.

Coordinator Scott Schaefer has taken a lot of criticism for his defense's performance, but head coach Rich Rodriguez explains exactly why he hired the former defensive coordinator of Standford and Western Michigan.