"Sad Saturday" Pep Talk

Submitted by ijohnb on
Yeah, this sucks. Worse than I thought actually. Certain fan bases are in football ecstasy right now and we are not one of them. But while you hate watch these games today, keep one thing in mind. We had no idea when Harbaugh got hired how good some of our prospects, particularly on defense were going to be. There was certain indications that we could play at a high level, but Harbaugh whipped these guys into shape fast, lightning fast. This is not the best team Harbaugh is going to have. This guy is a machine, and we have no shortage of young high level talent on the roster and in the works. Last Saturday was a painful bump in the road, but our young guys will learn from that, and they will finish that game in the future. We are probably not going to CFP, though it is not over yet. If the criteria is best four teams, maybe the committee will surprise us(if Clemson loses) and actually go with that because we are one of those 4. But if not, we are going to play Florida f-ing State in the Orange Bowl(probably). You can do a lot worse than that. Heads up today. Good things on the way. Very good things indeed.
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HarbaughHarbaughBlue

December 3rd, 2016 at 2:59 PM ^

they want us in the orange bowl because "FSU-Mich game would create a lot of excitement" like no.. not when FSU is horse shit it won't... we want bama or USC at worse end of story. Us against FSU would look just like our bowl game last year.

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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:18 PM ^

Sorry but i dont see it, they dont have the talent they had few yrs back with zeke the freak and a DL that was unstoppable. I dont know if JT is hurt but the guys has not been very accurate this year at all. Yes he can still kill you with his feet but his throws have been really bad, also having WRs which cant get open doesnt help either. Will see but out of 4 teams i think is #4, and washington would also beat them.



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Double-D

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:53 PM ^

Barrett can't pass and his WRs don't get open. Weber is average and their line gave up eight sacks to us. They are good but Bama will hammer them if they get that far. I think we beat them by two touchdowns on a neutral field with neutral refs. I still hold out hope for VT and the message from Hocutt can give us a chance. I would love another shot those smug fuckers.

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translator82

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^

The Orange Bowl is the Orange Bowl. I don't understand the crying over a Dec. 30 bowl (it's a NYD game that's getting bumped because of a combo of the current system and the way the calendar is at the end of 2016/start of 2017 with New Year's Day falling on a Sunday). It's still in the top tier of bowl games.

Also: Playing Florida State would be intriguing even if it's not a playoff game. We haven't played the Seminoles since 1991 when Amp Lee left a wake of destruction at Michigan Stadium. We won the first meeting in 1986.

That all said, a Virginia Tech win would be nice tonight to give ourselves some hope of playing for a shot at the national championship. If that doesn't happen, bring on Jimbo & Co. 

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bamf16

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:49 PM ^

Well, Clemson opens up a 2 touchdown lead.  I just don't want to have a repeat tonight/tomorrow of 10 years ago.  I leave a party, hear that UCLA upset USC (Michigan was 3rd after the loss at OSU), and I drive home with my Michigan marching band CD playing thinking we're going to get to see college football's greatest rivalry for a national championship.

 

I didn't think for a second that Florida was going to jump UM, but then Meyer went on his tirades, Carr sat with his mouth shut and with his thumb up his ass, and the rest is history.  I have a horrible feeling that if UW or Clemson lost, I'd go to bed all excited only to hear tomorrow that PSU or Wisconsin jumped UM and they ended up 5th.

 

I'm not sure what will piss me off more, seeing Michigan ranked 5th tomorrow or 6th.

 

 

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DairyQueen

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:08 PM ^

Who knows man, maybe the CFP would still put us in over Washington.

I watched the USC-Washington game (not live obviously), and Washington was simply dismantled, they looked like underclassmen.

It's "old thinking" about the whole "Conference Champ" or "11-1 is better than 10-2"-thing, that kind of thinking is on its way out.

That's exactly why the CFP committee was at the Colorado-Washington game, to "see" what Washington looked like.

And the fact of the matter is, Washington at #4 against Alabama would be DECIMATED (hell I think OSU at #4 against Alabama is also decimated), only Michigan and Clemson match up non-decimation-style against Alabama.

The basic is this: Is the CFP just simply the 4 BEST teams in the country?

Or, is the CFP the 4 Teams with the most traditional accolades?

That's what will get answered on Tuesday.

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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^

Washington is really good, yes better than usc BUT such is the sport and winning evey game in football is very hard and very rare. Yes i know alabama does it but alabama has also been playing bums this year, and they are bama so their players at 18yrs old look like nfl players. Dropping a game to a good team is normal and expected from team who play honest clean football, and i really think washington is where its at due to hard work and a great coach who took his time to build the program properly.



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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

There is nothing sad about this year, we won 10 games and beat our instate rival. Next year goal is simple beat both rivals and make it to big ten and win it. Last year we finished with 10 wins, lets make it 11 this year and we are on the right path. At the end for us to be really good or elite we need to finsh strong and beat the good teams. I dont expect us to beat bad teams i expect us to crush bad teams, BUT from now on i expect us to beat big strong teams. If we do that then will win a lot of trophies.



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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^

Beating both rivals winning big ten and NC at the same time is always the goal BUT that is not always the reality. We need talented players, we need speed, we need guys that can create holes for RBs and more. Pieces were there this year but still missing some critical pieces to complete the puzzle. After a decade of loosing to rivals it feels a lot better to at least win of the games. Msu got where they are because Dantonio started winning one thing at a time. He even said that his first goal was to beat um then osu then rose bowl..these are steps you need to take.



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ijohnb

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^

think you may be missing the fact that Harbaugh played a significant role in getting these players to this level. We shouldn't have lost, but losses happen even to really good teams. Nobody is saying that Harbaugh is a finished product, he will improve also and learn from mistakes.

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erald01

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:22 PM ^

Thats not the point, the point is that you have to take baby steps. We have taken a lot of backwards steps in the past decade and in order to become good again you need to learn how to win against your rivals. Jim has to build a winning culture again and that doesnt happen over night



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Double-D

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:59 PM ^

of Big Ten honors. At least ten guys are going to get drafted to the NFL. Sure more talent is on the way but let's not act like we lack for players. This team right now can play with anyone. Sometimes it bounces your way. Our fan base will soon get used being in the hunt every year.

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M-Dog

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

What's lost in all the despair is that Jim Harbaugh has completely closed the gap with Ohio State by year two.

We may struggle next year with losing so many starters, but that's a transitional thing, not a coaching or scheme thing or recruiting thing.

If all goes to chalk, we will finish 3rd in the entire nation this year.  We may even finish 2nd if Alabama wins the title and blows out their opponent.

Every single talking head says that Michigan is one of the top 4 teams right now, even if they think the committee has its hands tied and will have to pick somebody else.

We are all the way back. 

 

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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

Has he?

 

Brady Hoke gave Urban two one-score, very close games as well. The 2013 game was more of a moral victory than the 2016 one was. 

 

It's not enough at this point to play even games; we have to win.

 

Harbaugh has objectively failed his OSU test so far, badly. 2015 was the biggest embarassement against them in 50 years and 2016 was a choke job. Jim Harbaugh joins Rich Rod as the only Michigan coach in modern history to not win against OSU in his first two years. 

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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2016 at 5:11 PM ^

1969 was Woody Hayes' most talented team, according to himself. It was Bo's "first fucking year."

 

Your point?

 

I am excited for the future and think that we will continue building, but Harbaugh still has a lot to prove.

He hasn't earned the sainthood that many on here give him. Urban has earned that at OSU. Saban has earned that at Bama. I believe that Harbaugh will get there, but he hasn't yet and we need to stop acting like it. The next two years he's going to have to earn that giant paycheck. 

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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:00 PM ^

That's clearly not the fucking point. 

 

We are lucky to have Jim Harbaugh. 

 

But you can't shit on a coach for only beating a 6-6 Ohio State team by 6 points with a team full of no talent from a previous regime but then boast about a coach losing twice to Ohio State, once by 29 points at home, in the same breath. 

 

Jim Harbaugh has been stradling the line between an A- and a B+ in terms of his grade so far. We are 1-3 under Jim when LEADING by one score going into the final 5 minutes of a game. That is a disturbing statistic. 

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ijohnb

December 3rd, 2016 at 5:01 PM ^

agree there have been some issues, some that I did not expect. Player development has been A+++, game management has been surprisingly spotty. I am sure, though, that there are plenty of people who would take him off our hands. I think it is important to appreciate what we have. What Harbaugh took over what was very nearly a clown show, and the entire culture of our program has entirely changed. Harbaugh has been phenomenal with "the BIG picture," there has been some devil in the details for sure. He is, and will continue to be, a bit of an odd puzzle, but I expect that it will be quite a sight to see when he puts it all together. You know when you see a fake "rise back to prominence." ND has had multiple. This was is not that, this will sustain, and these growing pains are much of the reason why.

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snarling wolverine

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:11 PM ^

However you choose to phrase it - he took a team on the road with a gimpy QB and led most of the way before losing in 2 OTs, in a game featuring some singularly shitty officiating.  To call that a "failed test" or whatever maybe isn't that fair.  

It's more one of those games you pin on the bloody-mindedness of the universe.

 

 

 

 

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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:18 PM ^

You could also choose to phrase it as follows:

he took a team full of veterans and NFL draft picks to go play a very young team, who had every reason to be extremely motivated to beat this team based on past years and what was on the line this year, played very well for the first 50-70% of the game and then let the young team get back into the game by playing worse and worse as the game went on and failing to close out a win.

As an offensive coach, not sure how you say not having a single first down in the fourth quarter can count as a success. 

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snarling wolverine

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^

Do you think in any way that our team lacked motivation or effort last Saturday?  Did you see any play where it seemed like we mailed it in?  

I thought we played our asses off and lost because sometimes shit happens.  The team left it all out there, and that's what I ask for as a fan.  If they do that every week they won't lose very often.

Your ranting here basically comes off as, "I'm a big fan and the team owes ME victories, because I cheer for them.  If only they cared as much as I do." 

 

 

 

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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^

Both sides of the ball played by far their worst in the fourth quarter. That is not what championship teams do. 

 

And no, that's not my angle. My angle is that I'm tired of reading about how Jim Harbaugh stands alongside Nick Saban and Urban Meyer at the top as part of the Holy Trinity of coaches. He might get there, but he absolutely hasn't yet.

 

I'm proud of our players. And our coach, given the situation he walked into. 

 

But there is no doubt that this season was a disappointment. The reason I started commenting in this section was because of someone saying how great it is that Michigan has closed the gap with Ohio State.

We have lost to them 12 of the last 13 years.  They're still beating us in recruiting. They return all of their talent next year while we lose all of ours. Not sure what gap has been closed. 

 

The success of Michigan has always been based in large part on beating Ohio State. We still have to climb that mountain; we should've gotten over it last week, but we didn't due to a myriad of factors. Partially the fact that we cannot close out games against teams with a pulse, partially the turnovers, partially the ability for coaching to not adjust late in the game, and in large part due to biased officiating.

It's just beyond the point where I can take any moral victory in losing to them, AGAIN, when the tide finally favored us. 

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jmblue

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:57 PM ^

The 2013 game was more of a moral victory than the 2016 one was.
Well, insofar as "moral victories" exist . . . in 2013 we played absolutely no defense all day. We scored 41 points and I didn't feel good at all about facing them in OT. I was glad to go for 2 and try to steal a win. This year I thought we outplayed them most of the way and it's a heartbreaker that we lost. They "stole" the win this year. And this one was in Columbus.

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jmblue

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^

2013 was Hoke's third year and Meyer's second.  2016 was/is Harbaugh's second and Meyer's fifth.  You can go around in circles with this stuff.

I don't think we have better talent than OSU.  More experience, yes.  That helps, but can't always entirely overcome the difference.  I'm also not certain how healthy Speight actually was last Saturday, and how much, if any, his health affected our offensive coaching.   We do know that the downfield passing game seemed a lot more limited than previously.

You seem to be looking to blame someone on Michigan's side for a game that came down to a super-close spot on 4th down in double-overtime.  I just don't think this is the game to do that.

 

 

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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2016 at 5:06 PM ^

If you look at this game in a vaccum, I agree with you whole heartedly. But you can't. Or at least, I can't. 

 

You can't forget about the game two weeks before in Iowa City. You can't forget about the game last year in Ann Arbor. You can't forget about the record number of NFL draft picks Ohio State had to replace this year. You can't forget about the huge number of NFL players that are about to leave our team.

 

Our team is not a bad team for losing this game. Our coach is not a bad coach for losing this game. Not even close on either count. 

 

It's not so much that we lost; it's more that we didn't win. The fact of the matter is, not winning this game means that our team and coach failed to show they were ready to take a step into greatness. Michigan this year was good, not great. 

For a program like us, with the resources we have, great has to be the expecatation at some point.

 

Great teams win that game. MSU did it, without their starting quarterback against an Ohio State team with even more talent and experience. Heck, even Penn State and James Franklin found a way to do it. 

 

 

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