2016 football record prediction

Submitted by Ball Hawk on
We had a good regular season this year! We had some uncertainties before the season that could've turned ugly for us. We beat MSU and we almost pulled off a win over OSU. Im very proud of how hard this team has worked. It's easy to start expecting more and more as the season goes on. Thankfully Harbaugh gave us those hopes. We are still in a transition of developing players and bringing in new players to learn the system. I wanted to show some of you how far this team has come from most of these predictions that were made at the beginning of the season. Things change of course but by the end of the season, it seems that its never good enough for a lot of you. Take a look at what some of these predictions were. 3 things that were uncertain. 1. QB situation 2. Defensive coach 3. Linebacker development. Be happy how far we have come. We will beat OSU with Harbaugh. http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/season-prediction-thread Edit- Unfortunately I cannot find the 2016 season predictions thread. If someone can find it, please post it in the comments or have a mod post it.
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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:57 AM ^

2016 Speight.  I think we can win it all with Speight if he physically improves in the offseason.

In his case, physically applies to durability and arm strength. He could be a monster in the pocket with 15 pounds and more leg strength. He also needs to work on arm "strength" (progressive long throw drill, etc) so he can master the throws (deep outs, intermediate seams) that wreck secondaries.

Now that he understands the O and is familiar with the speed of elite Ds, he needs to dedicate the offseason to more physical improvement.

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NateVolk

December 3rd, 2016 at 8:46 AM ^

People make a big mistake expecting results right away like OSU keeps delivering.  Have to remember they went from Hall of Fame level coach basically right to Hall of Fame level coach. They lucked out mightily on Meyer being available at that point. Easily could have been searching around hoping to land the right guy. And if they were wrong, spending years digging out.

That's the life Michigan's program has been leading. Twice in a decade.

Think back: Through the Tressel-Fickell-Meyer transition there were no down periods to actually recover from as far as talent. They saw one season of minor defections of veterans who were all but out the door anyway. All the issues went down after that last Tressel class was signed and delivered. Tressel had been recruiting awesome for over a decade. So no drop-off there.

Meyer was announced like November/December that fall. He didn't coach but immediately started recruiting.

It's not reasonable to expect OSU results yearly right now at Michigan. You need horses. So when you go to Iowa or wherever and 20 year old kids have a inevitable teenager night, you still win by a couple scores.  We don't have that skill level on offense yet.  Not even close. 

 

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WorldwideTJRob

December 3rd, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^

We had the horses...please just except the fact we didn't reach our goal. Nobody is angry with the players or coaching staff. Top to bottom we had more talent than anybody in this conference. Plus we had the added bonus of being very experienced too. The refs jerked us out of a possible special season. You can't tell me this squad didn't have more talent than the 2015 MSU team that made it to the playoff!



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NateVolk

December 3rd, 2016 at 7:53 AM ^

Outside of Butt and arguably Mason Cole, Harbaugh inherited basically nothing on offense. Darboh and Chesson were nobodies until they started getting coached. The OL was overrated by star gazing. No quarterback.  Deveon Smith, tough guy, great blocker, not a feature back.

Inherited definite talent on defense in Peppers, Lewis, Charlton, Wormley. Those interior guys hadn't done anything though. Safeties neither. Linebackers were poor.

Five losses in two years, three of them at the gun, is amazing.

These two years have been Jim Harbaugh and his people coaching up average to good overall talent. It's not really even a Jim Harbaugh program yet.

Patience is an ugly word, but that's the deal.

Expecting to go undefeated based on having veterans alone is pie in the sky. You need quality veterans.

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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^

Great take, people think that this class was amazing because of star rating but none of this guys showed any real skill until their last year (this year) which is not what you want from your 4* players. Yes our defense was amazing but they did play against teams that lost their whole OL. Jim needs his guys period.



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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^

JH has turned around the program by instilling a work ethic and competitiveness that were both lacking. 

Plus, UM was unable to generate turnovers in the 2nd half of competitive games. Only 2 defensive scores all year?  Certainly some luck, but compared to Bama or OSU defenses that generated double digit scoring.  

Heck, JT had two passes batted into the air close to his own goal line and no one threatened to turn them into pick 6s. Speight throws a wobbler that Hooker takes to the house and undershrows a pass that LB Brown almost returns to the house. Flip that script and UM wins by 3 or 4 scores.

 

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Ghost of Fritz…

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:23 AM ^

In one way that is why the loses at Iowa and OSU sting.  Very close to making the playoff even though the roster is a shade short of where it really needs to be on the offensive side of the ball. 

2017 could be better than many expect.  But the 2015 class will continue to be a problem.  Some very good players in there, but only 14 enrollees, and some of those will not be contributors in 2017, due to injuries, or already left the team, or already passed on the depth chart.

2016 and 2017 classes will have to fill that gaps in the very small 2105 class. 

 

 

 

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WorldwideTJRob

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:37 AM ^

They were coached up, but I think you are downplaying the talent that was on the roster. Darboh and Chesson always had talent...they just didn't have a QB that could get them the ball and were overshadowed by an NFL receiver in Funchess. Defensively outside of linebacker the unit was ready made. Lewis, Peppers, Wormley, Charlton, and Hurst were going to be NFL prospects regardless. People like Marcus Ray were saying Delano Hill was a better safety prospect than Jabrill going back 2-3 years. Dymonte always was an athletic freak he just had to grow into a position in college. Hoke put the talent in place Harbaugh just nurtured into what we see now. You can't find this talented of a roster too many places around the country. We were spotty at a couple positions but overall we had the goods to win BIG this year.



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UMChick77

December 3rd, 2016 at 8:36 AM ^

I had 10-2 with a loss to either Wiscy or Iowa and the other was to OSU. Iowa was always a big trap game and OSU at Ohio with bias....that was a serious no brainer there. There was no way we were going to ever get a fair called game at the Hole given recent horrible refereeing , so not sure why there were people actually believing we were going to be 12-0 especially with the teams we had on the road.

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LSAClassOf2000

December 3rd, 2016 at 8:38 AM ^

I don't even remember an organized 2016 prediction thread - there were several over the course of the summer during times when people were actively avoiding talking books and movies. 

I wrote down mine, however, and I predicted 10-2 with two of the losses coming on the road, one to a rival, so more or less right. It's the especially egregious way that the one rival loss went down that will sting for a long time, of course. 

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sammylittle

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^

10-2. I think we will sweep the home slate and lose two close ones on road. One of the losses will be at Iowa, the other will be the result of poor officiating at one of our rivals.

 

.yes.

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mgobleu

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

I don't remember what my prediction was; probably "12-0 and dang any of you for thinking otherwise", but somewhat tongue in cheek. Still, I'll call this season a failure. Every season is going to be a failure short of at least an OSU win or a B1G championship. They played well at OSU, but imo were the better team by a wide margin and should have won, ref biases or no. Iowa was a complete bed shitting and Indiana was a pretty poor showing too. The last quarter of the season was a big letdown no matter how you slice it. All that said, there's not another coaching staff I'd rather have, and i think dominating sparty, competing toe to toe with Ohio state and being in the playoff conversation throughout the season is going to be the new norm for Michigan football.

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freelion

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:30 AM ^

The Iowa loss is the one that really pisses me off. We probably still miss the playoffs at 11-1 but it would feel much better to me than 10-2

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bdneely4

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:32 AM ^

I didn't make a prediction but I was hoping for a chance to win the B1G Championship and possibly make the playoffs. We had that chance. All in all, the only disappointment I have is we had victory on our fingertips against OSU and somehow they were able to take advantage of the only opportunity they had to win The Game. If you would have told me that OSU would be in a better position to make the playoffs this year than they were last year by 3 spots, I would have laughed at you. IMO, Michigan will have a similar path next year. We will again be in contention to win the B1G and possibly go to the playoffs, but it will yet again come down to The Game. Go Blue!



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bdneely4

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:36 AM ^

I agree with those who call this season a failure and even though he probably wouldn't admit it, Harbaugh probably feels the same way. This was a championship quality team yet they have no championships. It is nice to see that we now have a perspective on our program that a 10-2 regular season is a failure.



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mickblue

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:46 AM ^

Think back to last year, coming off a 5-7 record in 2014. Look at what it took for Sparty to win against us in Year 1.

The follow up was a solid win in East Lansing in Year 2.

We clearly were not ready to compete with OSU last year. Especially when our D line was depleted. 

The follow up was a winning effort at the Shoe. Look what it took for OSU to win at home. We literally brought Urban Meyer to his knees. He became so rattled he felt he had to resort to a fake punt in his own end of the field to try for a first down. He was also so reduced to a cheerleader. I was at the game and I saw him running up and down the sideline cheering for more crowd noise when we were on offense.

We have already equalled the 10 wins from the first year under JH. We'll go to a great bowl game with a chance for an 11-2 season. We were in the conversation for the CFP all year. 

The recruiting is off the charts. And with this coaching staff the new kids will be coached up.

I was disappointed in the 2 losses late in the season. But this is a process and we are definitely headed in the right direction. 

GO BLUE!

 

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WorldwideTJRob

December 3rd, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^

That's one way to look at it...but the other way is that we probably were one of the most talented teams in the country with a bunch of upperclassmen. This probably one of the best rosters we've had in a decade. If we can't win the B1G this year, when can we?

We are up from the Hoke years but that was never the standard for Michigan football. Six different teams have played in the B1G Championship game(Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, MSU, OSU, PSU) yet it pains me that we've yet to reach Indy. That's what made last Saturday so hard and why I'm still pissed at the refs. They robbed a well deserving bunch of kids from playing for it all! I think we will be better in the future but this was the perfect mix of talent/leadership for a championship team.



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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^

most talented teams?  Sure some guys returned instead of going to the NFL, but this squad was not stacked with talent when JH arrived.

Hoke had 2 very good classes - #5 and #7 according to Rivals.  He didn't have a #1 class with five 5*. In fact, OSU was 3 spots higher both of those years. They also went #3 in 2014 while we went #31.

Recruiting rankings aside, this group was very underwhelming in talent in 2014. All of the seniors were playing and not able to generate explosive plays against Rutgers, Utah, MD. We relied on Funchess and Norfleet for big plays (that didn't pan out). Defense was manhandled by MSU and Utah. Team looked slow and not skilled.

This squad was developed (physically, skillwise and mentally) into a very good team with some explosiveness.  Give this staff more elite talent - especially some truly agile & powerful run blockers - and UM will pound everyone.

 

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WorldwideTJRob

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^

They were Sophomores in 2014, you tend to get better with age and more training. You develop over 2 more seasons and become what you are. Did Harbaugh help? Absolutely! But let's not act like he walked into a roster equivalent to Purdue or Eastern either. We had the instruments just needed a better conductor to have us sounding like a great orchestra. We loss a lot in 2014 because our best talent were Freshmen and Sophomores.



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snarling wolverine

December 3rd, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^

 

But let's not act like he walked into a roster equivalent to Purdue or Eastern either.

 

I don't think anyone's claiming that.   The question is more over whether he inherited national-title level talent.  I think he did on the defensive side of the ball but not so much on offense.  I think he got as much as he could from the offense but it still had some limitations.  The OL just isn't a dominant unit in either run or pass blocking, our starting RB isn't a big-play threat and our QB is still growing into the position (and had to deal with an injury at the end of the year).

 

 

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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 3rd, 2016 at 2:51 PM ^

1. They were 5-7 as sophomores after 7-6 as freshman - seems like a year of experience was not a panacea.  OSU's "young" roster just went 11-1 after 17 starters left.

2. Hoke's recruiting was very good for 2 classes.  Neither was an elite class and the bookends to those classes were very thin classes. JH had to play a bunch of true frosh at RB, WR, Guard, and ST on a 20-5 team because the roster was thin.

3. You get better with good coaching and not simply maturaty.  JH has developed this roster both in S&C and on field. Heck, Hoke proved that guys can get worse over time.  This team's improvement from 12-13 in 2 years to 20-5 the last 2 reflects coaching and not a sudden talent infusion.

I see reasons for optimism about the program's direction. 

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jmblue

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^

This probably one of the best rosters we've had in a decade.
This may be true but it says more about how bad the program has been over most of that time. Our 2016 defense is very talented, yes, but the offense looks pretty ordinary, talent-wise, by traditional Michigan standards.

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jmblue

December 3rd, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^

Michigan has players drafted every year.  That in itself doesn't tell us that much - there are 256 draft positions.

The more relevant question is, how many of our offensive guys will be high draft picks next spring?    Butt will be, and ... ?

I'm curious as to how you think coaching did us in against OSU.  OSU has a top-10 national defense, a fact often forgotten here.   A glance at the playcalling shows that we really didn't turtle up in the 3rd/4th quarters the way people have complained.  We just weren't successful moving the ball.

 

 

 

 

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jmblue

December 3rd, 2016 at 12:12 PM ^

Here's a link to the play-by-play of that game.  We mixed things up more than a lot of fans seem to believe after the fact.  The problem was that our passing game didn't function well down the stretch, after carrying the offense in the first 40-45 minutes.   Protection broke down, Speight's accuracy slipped a bit (possibly due to feeling the effects of the injury?), and Darboh dropped a somewhat difficult but catchable ball. 

 

 

 

 

 

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mi93

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:39 AM ^

We may have one of the most talented teams, but arguably they've only been properly developed for less than 2 years, rather than from the day they all walked on campus.

I'm disappointed they lost at Iowa as that ends the CFP debate of whether we're in. I'm excited to be relevant again and I'm optimistic about next year given the playing time many young players received.



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snarling wolverine

December 3rd, 2016 at 12:30 PM ^

Did you see what Washington's OL did to Colorado?  Their NT ate our lunch inside, while UW put him on skates.   That's the difference between a championship-level OL and a merely functional one, which we had.  

Our longest play against CU was a 42-yard TD on an outside pitch.  We couldn't run between the tackles against them.

 

 

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We are back

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:02 AM ^

I said 10-2 with losses to Iowa and OSU. If I known what this team was capable of then I would have said 12-0. I still believe we under achieved this year we were too good to lose to Iowa and OSU



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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:02 AM ^

I think what we accomplished this year was good. My own goal was for the team to beat at least one rival and they did...at this point its all baby steps after a decade of darkness. The team is far from perfect even though we like to think this was the year. You will never win a national championship with a first year game management style QB. In order for us to get to the next level you need a QB who can sling the ball and make deep throws. The only way you win with this style of QB is if you have a stellar running game that can bail you out which we dont either. We need to stop with these one and done guys, I hope Speight improves and comes back stronger because I dont want to see a new QB next year with zero experience. I know Jim like the guys to compete but I hope Speight wins it again and he starts kicking some ass.



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uminks

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^

I thought we would lose to WI or IA and on the road at OSU.  I was hoping the O-Line would improve through the season. I thought LB position would be more of a problem. Next season I'm predicting 8-4  with losses to FL, PSU, WI and OSU, but I'm hoping for 9-3 with an upset win at home against OSU.

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