Is 9-4 possible? Could this bridge us into B!G championship runs in 2014/2015?
I was very dissapointed in the team's performance on Saturday and quite baffled as to how we continue to be ignorant to the fact that we simply cannot run the ball conventionally. The Nebraska game has been previously covered in several posts so it's not worth ranting over in this one. Can this team beat a B1G winless Northwestern team? Can this team beat a decent Iowa team on the road? The Ohio game is going to be tough obviously. Let's say that we go a modest 8-4 in the regular season and draw a manageable bowl matchup. Can we beat another conference's 4th or 5th best team?
I know pessimism will probably trump this entire post but just bear with me for a second. Northwestern is worse than we are. Iowa is not too tall of a task if we adjust our offensive gameplan. Ohio is going to be a very difficult matchup for us and we will be a massive underdog. Michigan played well in the bowl game last year against South Carolina and should have beaten a very good Gamecock team. Michigan can go 9-4 folks. It is possible and that is what we as a fanbase should focus on. How can we get there?
The difference between finishing 9-4 with some momentum and respectability and going 7-6 or 8-5 is huge because it shows life. 9-4 is nothing to brag about but it's respectable and in recruiting, recruits could be sold on the premise that they could be the missing links in turning a 9-4 record into a 11-2 record or better. We have to keep this class of 2014 together and a 9-4 Michigan team with players like Peppers...Hand...Mcdowell...Harris...Speight....Ferns....Cole....Mone....Marshall and coming on board for team 135....things start to look up quickly. Add a new line coach and some extra emphasis on next season's B1G schedule and we could be a YEAR away from restoring Michigan football. Look at Auburn this season for example. We need work on our Offensive staff for sure but the program infastructure and recruiting muscle is there for a quick bounce back guys.
This is Michigan and will always be Michigan. Through thick and thin believe because when it gets turned around...it's going to feel pretty awesome. Until then just enjoy the ride as much as you can and lean on M Basketball and the Lions!
Beat Northwestern and Go Blue!
November 11th, 2013 at 12:45 AM ^
No way. Northwestern might be the most winnable game left on the schedule. Iowa is basically MSU Lite and OSU will destroy us. No confidence in any bowl match up scenarios.
November 11th, 2013 at 12:53 AM ^
After the CMU and ND games it was a foregone conclusion that Gardner was going to leave early and be drafted in the first round. I bet most people around here thought there was not way in hell we would lose to PSU or MSU. Remember how bad MSU looked? Or Iowa for that matter? They looked like crap losing to Northern Illinois. Remember the Michigan - Minnesota game? Minny looked like they probably weren't going to make a bowl at that point.
Now, everything is horrible and this is the worst Michigan team in history. They have no shot, even against a team that is 0-5 in conference. Come on people... Anyone who thinks they've got this figured out is wrong. So stop being so matter of fact about us losing out (or winning out for that matter). Michigan is a fairly talented team who, at times, can do some good things. The defense is at least solid and sometimes that is enough to win some games. Those kids and coaches aren't giving up and conceding the next four games and neither will I.
November 11th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^
I agree with you that we shouldn't feel defeated before the games are played. However, I do like to point out that there's a big difference between looking good/bad in the beginning of the season vs. later part of the season. Many here are alarmed by the lack of progression this team is making, which is in sharp contrast with MSU/Minny you mentioned.
And it's not "few short weeks", it's been two full months since the CMU/ND game....good enough sample size to predict the trajectory of the team (rightly or wrongly).
November 11th, 2013 at 1:08 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 4:12 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 8:32 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
I'm not so sure the coaching staff hasn't given up and I'm not convinced the kids have any faith left. After Hoke blaming the kids for 'poor exectution' all year, I think you're starting to see this team fracture apart. I'm guessing we'll pull one win out of our ass before the seasons comes to a merciful end, but it won't be the win we all want and need it to be.
November 11th, 2013 at 12:57 AM ^
But Average Joes went out there and won the whole doggone dodgeball tournament FWIW
November 11th, 2013 at 1:03 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 1:13 AM ^
"Circus Clowns"
"Aggravated Rape"
Wow buddy, you certainly went for the triple threat on that post. The only thing I'm embarrassed about is that you post on the same blog as me.
November 11th, 2013 at 1:21 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 8:03 AM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 3:05 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 10:11 AM ^
It's not the language you use. It's the fact that you resort to name-calling when talking about student athletes that do nothing but work their asses off for the program. Have a little respect.
November 11th, 2013 at 1:05 AM ^
Answer: No.
I'm on a roll! Next question!
November 11th, 2013 at 1:18 AM ^
We can win the next two, we can also lose the next two but I lean towards winning maybe, I think, possibly, I hope..... BUT please stop talking about the OSU beat down that we are likely going to face..... We are not going to win that game. I just don't want the players to be embarrassed by a lack of preparation (coaching) and awful play calling (coaching)
November 11th, 2013 at 1:19 AM ^
anything more will be gravy. NW and Iowa are playing better than Michigan. Michigan could play better all the sudden. Weird things happen.
November 11th, 2013 at 8:02 AM ^
You could make that argument for Iowa, but to say Northwestern an out and out lie.
November 11th, 2013 at 1:36 AM ^
We have the same roster that we had the second week of September. I think this staff has to know by now that these are must wins. Again....we are on the verge of losing recruits and freshman to transferring. They will prepare these kids enough to beat Northwestern.
Michigan 33
NW 24
Stop the senseless sky is falling talk. We are not a top 25 team....we are also NOT Eastern Michigan for crying out loud. Im as dissapointed as the next but let's not get carried away. The B1G is not an elite conference and ANY team in this conference is beatable. Even Ohio.....
November 11th, 2013 at 1:53 AM ^
I like your opinion, but you don't need to dismiss others' opinions.
BTW, I sure thought/expected that the coaching staff understood that the last two games were so-called "must win" games...if they didn't look at them that way, and if it took this long for them to reach that level of urgency, I'll be tremendously disappointed....
The sky is not falling, but I wouldn't boast that OSU is "beatable" until someone, hopefully us, will show that on the field.
November 11th, 2013 at 6:47 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 1:57 AM ^
Im for whatever record gets Borges fired..9-4, 8-5 who gives a shit..
November 11th, 2013 at 2:33 AM ^
Sure, Nate: Fire Borges. Then someone else can come in and coach manball, but with better results.
The problem isn't the coordinator, it's Dave Brandon's manball directive. Why run against a team with 8 or 9 in the box? Because Dave Brandon said so and can fire anyone who doesn't do his bidding.
Football is evolving. I am betting that Borges would have no problem coaching a modern offense, but he will never be allowed to at the University of Michigan, even if Ohio beats them ten times in a row.
November 11th, 2013 at 3:10 AM ^
That's the first I heard this one. I thought I have heard everything.
November 11th, 2013 at 4:16 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 8:29 AM ^
27 for 27. That is all. 100% Borges to blame ... no one else.
Go Blue!
November 11th, 2013 at 2:22 AM ^
Auburn brought it one of the best modern offensive minds (Malzahn) and a new OL coach, etc. Dave Brandon and Hoke have consistently taken the position that such offenses lead to weaker defenses. The coaches that could bring us into modern era college football might also need a "map to Ann Arbor," another huge strike for Brandon. Probably better to simply watch Auburn football if you want to see offensive competency. Watching the Brandon/Hoke/Borges/Funk/Wellman ensemble put together an offense is kind of like watching your relatives in an awful community theatre play. It's painful, they apparently don't realize how bad they are, and there are much better forms of entertainment out there, but because of familial ties, this is how you will be spending your Saturday. Our Town for the win.
November 11th, 2013 at 2:53 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 2:53 AM ^
9-4 is possible.So are aliens visiting from outer space.
Maybe these two possibilities will intersect, and the aliens visiting from outer space will either (a) create a giant wormhole and send our remaining opponents to Mars, or (b) give our team Flubber cleats, thus enabling them to perform miraculous feats. With their feets.
6-6 is more likely.
November 11th, 2013 at 3:12 AM ^
There are here now. They are called Reptillians.
November 11th, 2013 at 7:55 AM ^
Then you realize you dropped a ton of acid before the game and the players weren't actually soaring through the air.
And OSU won, 63-7.
And you're waking up in jail.
November 11th, 2013 at 5:39 AM ^
The talent is there, and I think with a better, more "modern" offense you could turn things around next year for sure. tOSU might be a little vulnerable replacing a QB, WR and 4 O-Linemen. Beyond that I'm guessing the window closes for you pretty quickly.
November 11th, 2013 at 9:03 AM ^
Isn't Miller a junior? Or is there chatter of him heading to the draft?
November 11th, 2013 at 6:11 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 6:17 AM ^
You're never as bad as you think you are after a loss or as good as you think after a win.
Sagarin has Northwestern about even with us and Iowa 5 points better. They're winnable games. The 9-4 is probably our realistic ceiling. The bowl is a real wild card.
November 11th, 2013 at 6:34 AM ^
Using Massey's projections, the projected probability of 3-0 (bowls aside for the moment) is approximately 1.84%, and indeed, the probability of winning the next two would currently stand at 10.80%. It's definitely possible, but the major predictive models would say that it isn't every likely. The same might be true of projected bowl opponents - we've been tracking the predictions here as well, and I think the highest probability we've had in a head-to-head simulations was about 40% or so. Again, possible but perhaps not exceedingly probable.
That being said, though we might be projected underdogs the remainder of the way, the next two games do not come with unmanageable point margin projections attached. If we're going to win a couple more, the next two games are the best opportunity. If we do that, the projections for Ohio State definitely change and the gap - which would make us an estimated 2 TD underdog right now - will narrow. Again, possible.
November 11th, 2013 at 6:45 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 6:46 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 7:01 AM ^
Until we prove that we're not horrible on the road under this regime, there is no way we compete for a B1G championship with a schedule like 2014's.
2015 is a realistic expectation. Hoke's first full recruiting class will be true seniors by then, and we get MSU and OSU at home.
November 11th, 2013 at 7:17 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 7:26 AM ^
Absolutely. If the team from the first two weeks plays, they can beat every team on their schedule.
I think they haven't recovered psychologically from that akron scare yet. That brought them crashing back to Earth from the highest of highs since 2011.
November 11th, 2013 at 7:29 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 7:59 AM ^
The same overrated ND team that actually was competitive against MSU? A team from the same MAC that Akron is in? I'd gladly take the team from weeks 1 and 2 versus whatever the hell it is that exists currently. At least that team had some semblance of confidence.
November 11th, 2013 at 8:22 AM ^
How about we agree that we would love a team coached by a drunk MSC the rest of the season
November 11th, 2013 at 7:30 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 7:31 AM ^
No and Yes
November 11th, 2013 at 7:41 AM ^
November 11th, 2013 at 7:46 AM ^
At least that is what Ace Williams tweetrd