The semifinalist list of Doak Walker Award candidates has now been cut to 3 finalists, and Mike Hart is included

He is joined by last year’s Doak Walker Award winner Darren McFadden (Arkansas) and Ray Rice (Rutgers).

The the winner will be announced live on ESPN’s College Football Awards, airing Dec. 6 at 7:30 PM (ET).

On the web: www.doakwalkeraward.com

MGoBlog reported it first, last week, now Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr has confirmed that he will retire with that announcement expected tomorrow at a 10AM press conference.

It is being reported that Carr informed his staff and players of his plans at a team meeting today, as well as confirming the move in a phone call with the Associated Press.

The press conference will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPNews. It will also be streamed live on MGoBlue.com.

On the offense:

“We didn’t think we were going to be this bad off. We made a lot of mistakes out there. Give credit to the (Ohio State) defense. They came up with a great game and had a good scheme against us. The defense did a great job.”

On explaining the game:

“When we watch the film everything is going to be right there. We made too many missed assignments, too many dropped balls, missed blocks, bad cuts. Whatever you want to call it, we just didn’t put it together as an offense today. When you don’t do that, you aren’t going to win games.”

On injuries:

“I was fine today. I was good enough to play and it definitely wasn’t a problem. Chad (Henne) was out there throwing the ball fine so it’s definitely not the reason why we lost today.”

From: MGoBlue.com

AP Photo by Tony Ding

It was a cold and soggy Senior Day. Mike Hart took the field for the last time at the Big House. No one wanted it more than Mike Hart. He was hoping to end his team’s 3 game losing streak against their rivals to the south. But it was not meant to be. After 60 minutes of play, the Michigan Wolverines fell to Ohio State 14-3. Michigan’s loss gives the Big Ten title to the Buckeyes as well as the conference’s automatic BCS bid.

Playing through the pain of his high ankle sprain, the Buckeye defense held Hart to 44 yards on 18 carries. After a K.C. Lopata field goal in the first quarter, the team never scored again.

Earlier, Mike Hart let on that he was worried about his legacy; pointing out that he’d rather lose to Appalachian State than Ohio State. However, if one takes a simple look at his body of work while at Michigan, there should be no question. No one has been more valuable to his team. No one has given more of himself. Mike Hart shouldn’t worry about his legacy.

Michigan ends the season 6-2 (3rd in the Big Ten, 8-4 overall) and will now wait until the close of the season to learn which bowl game they will be playing in.

Mike Hart has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s top running back.

The list will be narrowed down to 3 finalist on November 19. The the winner will be announced live on the College Football Awards, airing Dec. 6

The award is named after three-time SMU All-American running back and 1948 Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker. Hart was voted a finalist for last year’s award before it was presented to Arkansas’ Darren McFadden.

On the web: www.doakwalkeraward.com

Since it is now OSU Week, members of the Michigan Wolverines spoke to the media today with regards to “The Game”. Notably absent was team captain Mike Hart.

Hart had hinted, after the Michigan State game, that he may not be present at the OSU pregame presser because he “might say something stupid” and provide the Buckeyes with bulletin board material leading up to the game. It seems Coach Carr wanted to avoid that. So, in his absence teammates Jamar Adams, Jake Long, Adam Kraus, Will Johnson, Brandent Englemon, and Coach Lloyd Carr handled the press conference.

Lloyd Carr on his decision to bring Mike Hart to the OSU pregame presser:

“I did have a conversation with Mike. He said, ‘Coach, I’m not dumb.’ And he isn’t. What I try to do is deal with the issue of the media in the preseason and in the spring. There’s essentially some fundamental rules: Respect the game, understand that when you say something, don’t say it unless you want to see it in print. We want to talk about a game in a way we can answer questions, but we want to do it in a way that we respect our opponents. I think that’s the essence of competition.”

Jake Long stated that if the Wolverines have to play without starting quartedback Chad Henne or Hart that the team would have to step up. We all know and have heard the politically correct reponses that the team, staff, and coaches have given when it comes to injured players; specifically Hart & Henne. But if anyone thinks that they will be kept out of this game, I have some swampland to sell you.

During the Wisconsin game, ESPN cameras frequently captured Hart in his coach’s ear on the sidelines. You could tell that he wanted to play and that it was killing him that he wasn’t out there helping his team. His ankle may still be bothering him, but I don’t know if there is anyone out there who will be able to keep Mike Hart off the field come this Saturday.

Check out all of the pregame player press conferences, courtesy of the Ann Arbor News’ Multimedia section.

The ESPN College GameDay crew will broadcast live from Ann Arbor, MI this weekend, the site of the annual rivalry game between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes.

Even though both teams are coming off of a loss for the first time in decades, there is still plenty on the line. The winner of “The Game” is the outright Big Ten Champion and gets the conference’s automatic BCS bid. But there is more on the line; namely the legacy of this Wolverine senior class, led by Mike Hart. They have yet to beat the Buckeyes and there would be no sweeter way to send them out than with a victory over their foes from the south on Senior Day.

College GameDay will kick off at 10AM on Saturday. More information on College GameDay can be found at www.collegegameday.com with further info regarding location and participation to come.

The Michigan Wolverines took a slide in the newly released BCS rankings; falling from #12 to #21 in the aftermath of the Wisconsin loss. The team is #23 in the AP poll.

This week, there are 4 ranked Big Ten teams in the BCS poll. Ohio State slid to #7 following their loss Illinois. After playing spoiler in Columbus, the Illini rocketed into the BCS picture and now stand at #19. With their win of Michigan, Wisconsin squeaked into the Top 25 at #25.

The Michigan Wolverines just lost a close game (although the final score would suggest otherwise) to the Wisconsin Badgers 37-21.

Mike Hart was dressed to play, but did not see the field in today’s loss. When asked about Hart, during the post-game press conference, Coach Lloyd Carr stressed that it was not an attempt to “rest” Hart for the OSU Game, but pointed to Hart’s pre-game warm-up as the reason for keeping him out of the game.

“He felt better today, but what I saw in the pregame, I didn’t like. It was my decision. Mike would have played, but I just didn’t feel like he was where he needed to be.”

The Wolverine 8-game win streak ends, but the team can still win the Big Ten Crown outright and the accompanying automatic BCS bid with a win over Ohio State next week in Ann Arbor. That would be a great way for these amazing seniors to go out!

Listen to Coach Carr’s postgame press conference here, courtesy of the Ann Arbor News.

After the Michigan State win last week, Mike Hart stressed that, with 3 games remaining in his college career, he wasn’t “missing anything”. He is backing that up today, in Madison, WI, as he is dressed and ready to take the field against the Wisconsin Badgers. Backup running back Carlos Brown is starting the game, but Hart is expected to play. The game is airing on ESPN.

Halftime Update: Wolverines are down 20-7, Chad Henne appears to be out for the game, and Mike Hart has not played yet.