Does anyone else feel cautiously optimistic about ND after last night?
October 20th, 2019 at 2:03 PM ^
Lots of positives going forward. The pressure is off this team now that they lost again so they can just play loose and go ball. It’s a night game at home which has to account for something. It’s ND so the team will be up. Pressure is on ND because they are expected to win. Offense now has some confidence and likely going to continue to grow.
A lot of things in our favor!
October 20th, 2019 at 3:12 PM ^
So if they lose to ND and OSU I guess the pressure will really be off the team finally! Whew! They needed that.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:06 PM ^
Yes and we all should, we will play more like the second half on offense, the rest of the season.
We turned the corner offensively.
We should expect to beat ND and every other team on the schedule not named tosu. We now have a chance at upsetting tosu.
October 21st, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^
Yeah - I was actually pretty psyched after the game Saturday night. That was a situation/environment that normally would've made Michigan lay down and give up. But they didn't. The defense got tough and the offense found a rhythm. They fought hard.
I think Patterson had a great second half (I texted my buddy that they should pull him after that horrible INT because his decision-making was terrible again). But he got tough and focused and made plays. And he STILL missed pulls and open recievers but they were able to move the ball. And that is HUGE for this team.
Hopefully this means they've grown and they're a different team. And that they're ready for ND this Saturday.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:07 PM ^
I don't care about the Notre Dame game at all. I'd rather drop one to ND than Maryland or Indiana.
They don't have a conference.
They shouldn't have been on the schedule.
They shouldn't be on the regular season in the future.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
If we win the 3 rivalry games this season will be considered a tremendous success
October 20th, 2019 at 3:20 PM ^
Exactly. We’ve got ND, MSU and OSU at home. Anyone saying there is nothing left to play for this year is not a Michigan fan IMO.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
Beat the shit out of them! Run up the score! To hell with Notre Dame!
October 20th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
I feel like ND will be very similar to yesterday. We'll be trying to control the clock and establish the run while ND will be trying to score TDs. We'll both achieve our goals which means ND wins.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
I'm with you. I'm not making a prediction, but this team may have found itself last night. They're limited in some ways with regard to talent, but they showed toughness and finally executed their offensive plan against a good defense. They have a great chance to beat ND if they can play a clean game.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
Won’t ND bring the ACC refs? Somehow, those guys are worse than B1G refs.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:14 PM ^
I think it’s a tough ask to get ND on a bye the week after such a physical game, BUT, if the offense puts out a similar performance, and the refereeing is neutral, I think we will be in the game all the way through. Norte Dame is a tougher offense than Penn State so we cannot start the game in a hole like we did last night. Can we win? Absolutely!
October 20th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
They need to rehearse the planned first play of the game ad nauseum this week so they look like they are ready to go. It is so bad to see the team need to take a time out or look lost to start the game.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
I think the benefits of bye weeks are exaggerated. Yes, you might get some guys back from injury, but it seems to throw a lot of teams off their routine and they often look sloppy the next game.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
Plus, what exactly does a bye week allow ND to prepare for?
Even Michigan does not know what it is going to do from week to week.
October 20th, 2019 at 6:09 PM ^
Maybe Notre Dame will come off their bye week just like Michigan came off their bye week.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
We can win, but who cares? It’s another season of a bronze medal in our own division.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:29 PM ^
So I take it you think its time to quit.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
As long as they don't turtle up (like the first quarter at PSU), and keep their foot on the pedal, I like our chances against ND.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
This team will turtle. It’s Harbaughs weak mentality. How many games have you talked about not turtling and playing aggressively? Oh right all of them
October 20th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
No reason to turtle now
October 20th, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
I think we are going to murder Notre Dame.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:21 PM ^
Last night removed the "we don't stand a chance" fear I had about this team.
Down 21-0, I thought it was time for the Dylan era to begin.
I was wrong and Harbaugh was right to stick with Shea. The team fought back and competed, and showed it could go toe-to-toe w/ a Top 10 foe. So, yes, there's no reason to think it can't go toe-to-toe w/ a similarly ranked ND that had its hands full against USC.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
The line is down from +4 to +2.5. Seems like the money is getting more cautiously optimistic.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:28 PM ^
I'm cautiously optimistic Michigan will play one half of productive football. If Notre Dame does the same, it should come down to an interesting fourth quarter.
They are clearly good enough to beat almost anyone if they put a full game together, which would then lead to an ability to put a whole season together. For whatever reason, this team is incapable of it.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
If Michigan plays the same as they did in the 2nd half and it’s at home...yeah I’ve got Michigan by about 10 or so.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:32 PM ^
I'm more than cautiously optimistic, I'm fully optimistic. We're going to beat ND.
If last night's game was at home we would have won.
I'm also optimistic about beating OSU this year.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:39 PM ^
I'll have some of what you're having. OSU is gonna destroy us as they put up 60+ on us for the 2nd straight year.
October 20th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
Just a little weed so far today, so nothing too heavy.
My reasoning is thus.
We're at home. The offense is starting to click. Brown has been thinking about this game for a year, probably with the mindset that his job may be on the line.
We had outstanding game plans in 16 and 17, but our QB's were broken or awful.
Urban Meyer isn't walking through that door.
October 20th, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
I hate to admit it but Day is looking every bit as good as Meyer as a game day coach. Probably not gonna be on Meyer's level as far as program head goes, but right now he's working with Meyer's talent and killing it.
I'd like to think that Brown has something up his sleeve, but after watching him try to single cover Hamler with Hawkins and Metellus I just have to believe that OSU will exploit the glaring weaknesses in our defense and Brown's own stubbornness for the 2nd straight season.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:37 PM ^
We're taking Notre Dame down. I have no doubt about it.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:41 PM ^
Thought they'd win before last night, but it doesn't really matter; season is over. Beating MSU and OSU would be really nice, but it wouldn't make the season a success.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
Notre Dame is much better than PSU with better players and much better coaching.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
true, PSU is very overrated
October 20th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
I know you asked the guys how they feel about Saturday, but this gal feels we have a decent chance for a "W".
October 20th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
Totally confident that we will beat ND. It's in the Big House, and that is more than enough of a difference. Go Blue!
October 20th, 2019 at 2:44 PM ^
If Michigan plays like they did in the 2nd Half, they win.
This is one of the most important games in the Harbaugh tenure.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
Michigan has played one great half out of 14 total halfs this season. I will reserve judgment until a clear pattern is established.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
For the first time all year, our offense looked good. One half of good offense is not enough data to say we're better than ND, but the improvement is certainly encouraging. With home field advantage, I'd expect us to be favored by one or two points. This game is very winnable.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
Sure, but does it matter at this point?
I will always root for UM, but there is little expectation that they will reach the heights this fan base was hoping for.
I didn't even watch the 1st half yesterday, I was running errands and following on my phone.
October 20th, 2019 at 6:08 PM ^
Yeah, on Saturday I will catch the game after the Pistons - Sixers game is over. It's not fun to watch Michigan football for me anymore.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:49 PM ^
Not really and I'll tell you why. Penn State had to defend 82 plays last night to Michigan's 54. Penn State's defense got gassed in the 4th quarter about the same time Michigan's offense really came to life. The Michigan defense, in the 2nd half in particular, helped the Michigan offense by stuffing Penn State.
If game flow is the reason your offense came to life it probably isn't something that's very replicable.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:52 PM ^
Curiously, I find myself more confident about the offense but less so about the defense. USC’s passing offense shredded ND; and, if we can carry over our passing attack from PSU, I’ll be happy.
Similarly, ND crushed USC with big chunk plays, and our defense continues to be very susceptible to this.
if we can show up to the game mentally prepared to play all four quarters, I think we will all be pleasantly surprised. The problem is we’ve done that so infrequently under Harbaugh, and our wiggle room for error is less than last night.
Rankings aside, I think ND is a much better team than PSU, and I think Kelly is a pretty damn good coach. Moreover, ND is coming off a bye week, and will be very ready to play this game (after a win over their rivals). We have to not only play our best game of the season, to date, but arguably the best game under Harbaugh’s entire tenure.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^
I see the silver lining but I also think we’re going to lose. As much as I can not stand that little red faced troll, Kelly will bring his team in ready to play. Jimmy needs to figure something out or Jimmy is going to find his team @ 5-3 really quick.
October 20th, 2019 at 2:57 PM ^
Yep, count me in. Said it previously, team got stronger last night.
October 20th, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
I’m optimistic. In the second half defense was superb and offense the best we’ve seen this year. At this point, if we beat ND & MSU, I’ll be thrilled.
Still trying to get over last night’s heartbreak. It’s tough... can’t imagine how the players must feel today.
Go Blue!
October 20th, 2019 at 3:36 PM ^
No room for cautious. This team needs to ball like they did most of the game last night.
October 20th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
Accidental post
October 20th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^