Grantland: All of the Non-Harbaugh Reasons to Get Excited About Michigan Football in 2015
" A nine-win season should be within reach. Of course, Michigan could always limp to another disappointing finish, but if a few things break right and the Wolverines wind up playing on New Year’s Day, it won’t only be because the new head coach is the Messiah. It will be because this team has underachieved for a while, and it has the pieces it needs to do well right away."
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-college-football-preview-michiga…
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But this time you know it's for real
"this team has underachieved for a while, and it has the pieces it needs to do well right away."
Another factor is that the team has been unusually young for the past two years. The overall level of experience is getting higher, as few players have been lost to graduation.
August 6th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^
Hard to argue with that preview. I'll take 9-3, as would most bloggers.
Edit: I argue with the 'Blue Blue' comment because, duh.
You and MGOuser Stringer Bell must not get along
Cumong man.
I know it's wrong, but I don't really mind anymore.
As a person who grew up hating Kentucky, I still mind.
I really like the fact that there is a season ticket waiting list and this is going to prevent the deluge of visitor fans (i.e. Ohio State) from attending games. Particularly if we are doing well all those people that sold tickets in the past will keep them.
No more 20% red filled stadiums when Ohio State is in town!
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Traditionally when a teams fans say "Go Blue" all the time, you would think the right choice is to wear blue. I like blue, I like blue Michigan gear so I will be wearing Blue, and I look perfectly OK in it.
I look gigantic in highlighter maize. It's not a slimming color. But I like the overall effect in the stadium when people wear it.
What did you just call me?
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he's cherry-picking stats a little when he says our defense gave up the 7th fewest yards per game in the FBS. Considering the pace our offense played with, yards per play is a more honest metric.
The offense moved slow, but was it able to actually sustain drives? A slow moving, ineffective offense doesn't necessarily hold on to the ball all that much.
I'm willing to bet that the drives per game the defense faced was above average.
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/opponent-plays-per-g…
Our defense faced the 14th fewest plays per game out of 128 teams. We were pretty effective at getting teams off the field. I'm not saying our defense was bad, I'm just saying we weren't the 7th best defense in the country last year, which is what the author is sort of implying.
EDIT: https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/opponent-yards-per-p…
We were tied for 8th in fewest opponent yards per play, which is pretty damn good.
I was talking about opponent drives per game - which could be a reflection on how quickly our offense was giving the ball back to opponents. Low plays per game could be a function of a defense that forced a lot of three-and-outs, just as much as an offense that was effective at ball control.
And as you point out, the yards per play for Michigan's D was really good, suggesting that the D was, in fact, legitimately top ten.
Our 3 main weapons (Gardner, Funchess, and smith) all were suffering from different foot/leg ailments. IMO trying to hurry up the O when your guys are having trouble staying on the field is a recipe for even more disaster then what we witnessed. Playing slow was the right coaching decision last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if we play slow again this year.
It also has the nice side benefit of keeping your defense fresh. Even in 3 and out situations the D can get a real time of about 3 mins of rest.
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I think the issue with the offense's pace is that it wasn't slow by choice. In game situations that would dictate a faster pace (e.g., 2 minute drills), the offense still moved at the same painfully slow crawl.
Plus, uptempo offenses can help to mitigate being outmatched by defenses - Ds don't get time to switch out of their base sets, substitute, implement blitz packages, etc. There are some positives to going uptempo when you have an outmatched offense.
Also keeping a defense from adjusting for blitzes has to do with how fast you get the snap off from the time you get to the LOS. So a team can play slow and have some benefits in regards to blitz packages.
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Two things I'm looking forward to this season are, A) our QB audibling out of bad plays, and B) our defense audibling out of blitzes if we've been caught showing blitz.
It was maddening to hear Borges (I know he's been gone over a year, but I won't let that stop me from beating that dead horse) talk about running the play regardless, and seeing our DBs crash down toward the line, have the opposing QBs see that, audible out of the play, and our defense still sending the blitz.
The offensive thing didn't bug me because sometimes u are using that bad play to set something up later in the game. I also think Denard had trouble communicating audibles on the field.
For example the Vincent smith play against SC. The play was audibled at the LOS and everyone but the TE ran power to the left. He looked like he was blocking power as if he was on the back side, not play side.
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Or ya know...changing the play on a potential game winning two point conversion after the opposing coach calls timeout to adjust to your formation.
Thank God for Harbaugh
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Baugh-har!!
because Big Blue hasn’t actually been that bad the last few years.
Yes they have.
Big Blue? Are you* referencing the University of Kentucky or IBM?
Because UK has been really good at basketball lately, and IBM stock has been pretty meh over the past five years, but not that bad.
*This question being for the Grantland author!
(Dupe post)
I always thought Big Blue was a New York Giants nickname... In 40 years, I've never heard it about UM football except by mistaken online sports writers.
Yeah that was bullshit, don't know what the hell he was on about
Neither QB will burn worlds at Michigan, but neither will need to. Given Michigan’s current roster construction, it’s easy to see the 2015 Wolverines as a tough, power-running team that grinds out close games en route to a decent bowl berth. And that certainly sounds like something we’ve seen before.
That quote is in reference to Morris and Rudock, but it does reiterate the reason that - for the first time in a while - I don't find myself biting my nails over QB play. With some of the moves that have been made already, it seems to point in the direction of this very thing - power-running and, if some of today's quotes are any hint, an overall balanced attack.
So many of us (myself included) spend our time dreaming if impossibly high ceilings will be reached, it's so reassuring to have a high floor too.
Interestingly seems to oppose the mgoconsensus on the Green/Smith RB battle. Though pointing to Green's high YPC hardly seems fair when the injury meant he got half+ of his carries last year against Miami (NTM), Appalachian State, and other assorted garbage.
No doubt that some key stats last year were clear outliers and they should enjoy some regression->mean; of course, here's hoping they slingshot past the mean in T/O margin to about a +16.
If Rudock can lead this team and be as efficient as he was at Iowa - I have a very good feeling about this upcoming season.
The article points out something that I think will be the primary driver of big improvement, and that hasn't been getting much play. To paraphrase Bill Clinton, it's the turnovers, stupid. Read a quote from Saban today about the statistics showing that in the NFL over the past 20 years, if you are plus-one turnover in a game, 77% chance you win. Plus two, 90% chance. Michigan gave the ball and games away last year. If Michigan has a quarterback who doesn't turn the ball over, 8 wins is the floor.
Forgot to say, I'm also expecting big improvement in special teams, as I think everyone is. There's nowhere to go but up, right? Improvement in the field position part of the game is also something that isn't talked about so much, but is going to make a huge difference.
I think 8 or 9 wins will keep the fans happy (though I think Harbaugh and co. will get a pass this year regardless, as any failure this year will be put back onto the Hoke regime).
But here is how I think it will go:
@Utah W
Oregon State W
UNLV W
BYU W
@Maryland W
NW W
MSU L
@Minny L
Rutgers W
@ Indiana W
@ PSU L
OSU L
8-4
That 6-0 start hype. If we start 6-0 I will be very happy
That 6-0 start hype. If we start 6-0 I will be very happy
That 6-0 start hype. If we start 6-0 I will be very happy