Adjusted Expectations?
The non conference season is over. We've seen our two legitimate games go about as poorly as they could have. On the other hand, our conference foes haven't fared much better.
Based on what you've seen, what is the realistic ceiling/floor for this team in Big Ten play?
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:16 AM ^
Still, looking into the bright side, this will definitely give Denard something to digest as how to control his ball and give Gorges something to consider as well. Rose Bowl is still very much within reach.
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:30 AM ^
want to go to the Rose Bowl and play Oregon, Stanford or USC with this team?
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:50 AM ^
It's the freaking Rose Bowl. It'd be amazing to just make it there.
September 23rd, 2012 at 6:55 AM ^
It's the freaking Rose Bowl. It's like saying you don't want sleep with Kate Upton because you gained 15 pounds this year and aren't looking your best.
September 23rd, 2012 at 7:32 AM ^
You guys miss the point. Who gives a shit if you goto the rose bowl if your QB is too GD retarded to make a 3 step read.... i dont care iof he runs for 60 yards if he cant throw he shouldn't be the QB. 6 turnovers..... fire Hoke , release very scholarship player and strat from scratch.. or else STFU and learn to play football
September 23rd, 2012 at 8:15 AM ^
Please do not procreate
EDIT: Troll was caved - Sopwith keep up the good fight.
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:16 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 3:05 AM ^
At this point purdue vs nw in BIG championship wouldnt really suprise me
September 23rd, 2012 at 7:36 AM ^
Who cares who plays in B1G championship game Really. This confetrence from top to bottom is worse the MAC or WaC. SEC SEC SEC fuck Denard... hope he retires or atleast really earned a degeree so he can sell insurance.... fuck you too al borges you fat ass paranoid PoS. Have you ever taken a picture where you dont look like you just busted for child porn?
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^
And it might actually be a match up of the two legitimately best teams.
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:29 AM ^
could go anywhere from 8-0 winning the Big Ten Title game, to 1-7 with a lone win over Illinois.
Feels like every Big Ten game will be a battle like tonight where we should have a chance to win. Unfortunately that includes games like Northwestern/Minnesota/Iowa/Purdue games that shouldn't be close but probably will. Make too many mistakes and we lose, protect the ball we win.
Also it wouldn't hurt if our D created a fumble or two between now and late November. K-thanks
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:24 AM ^
I don't see 8-0 being that likely, however it seems much more likely than 1-7.
September 23rd, 2012 at 11:35 AM ^
We have 6 turnovers against ND and lost by a touchdown. I don't see any way we lose to any of Illinois, Iowa or Minnesota. Those are bad, bad football teams. Purdue is a much better team and shouldn't be lumped in that group.
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:33 AM ^
Well that means we win the B1G. We go to the rose bowl. We beat UCLA of all teams. I go to the game.
September 23rd, 2012 at 3:04 AM ^
Why would this game change any expectations? After the bama game i think we came back to earth a little and this game was really meaningless in the big picture. We can still win the BIG championship. Who impressed this week minnesota beating cuse, MSU sqeaking by a terrible EMU team, or Iowa choking late in the game and the Illini getting blown out by louisiana fucking tech We dont play Wisconsin or PSU (who by the way is looking best in the leaders thus far) We can beat nw, illinois, minnesota, purdue, iowa. Getting a win agianst nebraska or MSU and then beating OHIO puts us at 7-1 maybe 6-2. I think that gives us the division chamionship Still a long way but my expectaitons havent changed one bit after this game!!
September 23rd, 2012 at 3:39 AM ^
If Denard's decision making/ accuracy dont improve, we could be looking 7-5 in the eye, easily... That's a reality that may have to be faced....
Guessing 8-4, hoping for 10-2/9-3, and fearing 7-5 6-6
September 23rd, 2012 at 3:39 AM ^
There are no gimmies left on the schedule. One thing I'm clinging too is 6 turnovers and 13 points. The D might be coming around.
I don't think this team is very good but I don't think there are any sure losses ahead either.
Hell I don't know, I just want to beat Purdue right now and I wish the game was Monday night.
September 23rd, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 6:41 AM ^
To answer the OP's question, I don't think you adjust expectations just yet based on the results of the OOC schedule. Just based on many discussions that took place here in August, an estimate of 2-2 in the OOC schedule should probably not shock anyone now as it turns out to be dead on.
Having now seen the games, of course, we note that Alabama is simply on a different plane and we are still responsible for the lion's share of the offense allowed by them to date this season. I'll take that.
Air Force and UMass were almost universally chalked up as wins, and we handled business against an unorthodox offense and a baby seal. Again, I'll take that.
Notre Dame was definitely winnable, but turnovers in the red zone killed it (if we get two of those throws back, it's a different game perhaps - in all other respects, we were competitive in this game), but again, it was going to be tough anyway, and if you want a bright spot, the defense kept that game in control - we lost by one score, so no, despite what people said in the liveblog, it's definitely 2012. Based on historic numbers, that turnover margin in one game is an aberration, an outlier, and it is unlikely that it happens again, so take comfort in that.
The way that several of the folks in our conference schedule have played, looking at their stats, a cumulative record 9-3 is still definitely within the realm of possibilities. The Big Ten really is up for grabs right now, both divisions are wide open. Two of the teams that perhaps people would have said "lean loss" to in August - MSU and Ohio - look very beatable now, and Nebraska at home will be tough but if we can muster the same rushing performance as last night sans turnovers, their inability to do stop UCLA (whom I think we're better than, especially on defense) on the ground a couple weeks ago may be telling.
September 23rd, 2012 at 7:08 AM ^
After getting shit stomped by Bama and sucking against Air force and even u Mass. Who cares if Michigan wins the big ten. Who even cares about the big 10!
September 23rd, 2012 at 7:45 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 7:14 AM ^
The defense played balls out! This loss goes on one guy Denard Robinson, not the offensive line who gave him more than enough time , not the receivers who caught everything Denard threw at them, not Touisant who rant for yards on his w hat 5 cvarrys... mosy of which wher Denard Robinson ... oh shit take it so i dont look bad reads..
You guys love Michae Hart and ChadHenne so you'll nver know how bad Denard trully is. I'd rather pull for sparty then sell Denard take another snap at U of M
September 23rd, 2012 at 8:13 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 8:13 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 8:31 AM ^
No - mine are the same this morning as they were before the season started. I expected, given our brutal road schedule, we'd lose 3 out of 4 of the "big games" and so far we're 0-2. I expected, given our relatively soft home schedule we'd run the table and so far we're 2-0.
To put things in a bit of perspective in 1988 we started 0-2 losing to (you guessed it) Notre Dame on the road and then a complete heartbreaker to Miami (YTM) at home. And then we went undefeated the rest of the season (had a tie at Iowa), won the Rose Bowl and finished ranked 4th in the country. Can anybody look at our remaining games and honestly say "that one's unwinnable?" Beating both Nebraska and OSU on the read will be a challenge but not an insurmountable one.
In the words of the imortal JLS....."Smile". We lost a game guys where our best player had the worst game of his life and we still had a shot to win at the end.
10-3. Thought it before the season started....still think it now.
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:14 AM ^
TWIS bait: Quoting JLS.
September 23rd, 2012 at 8:52 AM ^
My problem is with this coaching staff just having the expectation of winning the BIG. It is like we are entering the Carr years all over again. Personally I hated the fact that we went 9-3 what seemed like almost every year. Yes he won a national championship, but he also underachieved with the same attitude of lets just win the BIG. Do you suppose Alabama has a goal of just winning the SEC every year? That used to be Bo's goal, college football has changed I really do like coach Hoke, but for god sakes put on a set of head phones and set your goals higher. His coaching style scares me and makes me think that the Carr years are returning.
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:08 AM ^
So are you suggesting that by having the goal to win the B1G they somehow don't want to win the out of conference games as much? I cant imagine them trying any harder then they did to beat Alabama (vastly superior team) and ND (our best player had his worst game....it happens). If we did something that made you think we were holding back some super-secret weapon to unleash it on the unsuspecting B1G then by all means share cause I'd love to know what that might be.
And I'm not sure how wearing headsets correlates into higher goal setting. Does the lack of communication with the assistants during playcalls denote lack of goals? I read it as confidence in their abilities and his desire to connect with the players and not be "in a bubble" so to speak.
September 23rd, 2012 at 11:47 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:18 AM ^
I don't need to adjust my expectations because we are exactly where I thought we'd be. (I do need to adjust my expectations about how ugly it would look getting there.)
I thought we would lose to Alabama and ND, although a little more aesthetically. I also think we beat State but lose to one of Nebraska/OSU. We also lose, unfortuantely, to a middle of the pack team that we shouldn't lose to. It is still enough to get to the B1G Championship Game.
The Nebraska game looks scary . . . another hyped-up night game in an intimidating setting against a proud opponent looking for redemption, where Denard has all day to sit around and get overly geeked up. Not our best moment.
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:42 AM ^
I started out the season thinking 14-0, and now I'm hovering at around 12-2.
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:17 AM ^
You should be an Economist.
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:45 AM ^
At 8-4. And in the expectation that we get Sparty this year.
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:19 PM ^
up to 9-3 now.
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:27 AM ^
I still sit at 7-5.....The Denard/Borges combo scares me greatly. It helped a lot last year with thge D creating TO's at a possible abnormal rate.
If those TO's aren't being created we have to be that much better on offense and with the oil/water combo our OC/QB have it might be a long up and down frustrating season with us leaving a lot of points on the field.
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:44 AM ^
I expected 2-2 after the non-conference and a 6-2 conference schedule. Unfortunately, we are right on pace.
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:46 AM ^
They are kids, and will probably lose one more game they shouldn't. But that being said, we should be the better team on the field in the rest of our games, or at the very least... competitive in every game.
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:59 AM ^
Win the B1G.
September 23rd, 2012 at 11:15 AM ^
I'd expect to finish 8-4 or 7-5. All of the Big Ten teams are pretty equal. There will be a lot of 4 and 5 loss teams.
September 23rd, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 11:55 AM ^
Michigan could run the table in the B1G and finish 10-2 again. However, we will probably have more mistake filled games. As a realist, I'm sticking with my original projection of 8-4 with two conference losses. Worse case will be 6-6 or 7-5!
September 23rd, 2012 at 12:49 PM ^
Considering how terrible the B1G is overall, I still expect a B1G championship. Sadly, I just don't expect much out of their bowl game.
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^
I feel much better about our chances of winning the B1G now than I did at Week 0. The B1G has been so bad over the first four weeks that I'll be downright disappointed if we don't win it now
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^
I was at 8-4 with losses to Alabama, ND, Nebraska, and OSU. I think 6-6 is just as likely as 10-2.
One note of patience: in 1969 after 5 games we were 3-2, with a blowout loss to Missouri 40-17 (at home, no less), and an unimpressive loss to MSU at EL, 23-12. At that point in the season, not very many people were thinking we'd be undefeated the rest of the way with a convincing win over the alleged best college team of all time.
September 23rd, 2012 at 3:49 PM ^
I'll stay the same as before the year.
Best case was 10-2
Worst case was 7-5
Most likely was 8-4 or 9-3, sticking with this.
September 23rd, 2012 at 4:47 PM ^
win that and we have good chance to go to the B1G champ and a quality season. Lose and it could be a really long crappy season.
September 23rd, 2012 at 5:12 PM ^
September 23rd, 2012 at 5:17 PM ^
My answer: This team is better than what i thought we would be. I figured 2-2 with losses to who we lost to, but expected ND to own us, and we actually outplayed them outside of a few plays. This team is better than i thought they would be.
We are no worse than the 2nd best team in the Big Ten. I thought we would be the 4th best team in the Big Ten this year.
September 23rd, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^
Other than that, nothing's changed.
September 23rd, 2012 at 9:17 PM ^
win the "Bo" Division.