Any thoughts on Houston in the Sugar Bowl ?

Submitted by rockydude on

I know I'm kind of putting the cart ahead of the horse here, but right now, smart money says Michigan goes to the Sugar Bowl, where we will play Houston.

Anybody have any clever thoughts about Houston? They are undefeated. but I really haven't followed them. They strike me as one of those small conference teams that has a gimmicky passing offense that works when they play bottom dwellers. (they've played TWO teams with a winning record IIRC) 

I'd like to think that we can just get in there and manhandle them a bit. I don't see them stopping Fitz, and I guarantee you they've not faced an athlete like Denard.

Again though, I really don't know this Houston team that well. Anyone out there want to chip in with a few thoughts?

.ghost.

November 27th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^

#beatohio

#rememberthefive

Guaranteed Keenum hasn't seen a D-line like ours.  He won't be getting too much time back there (granted I know nothing about Houston's O-line; they are still going to get curb stomped)

jaysvw

November 27th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^

Keenum has thrown for 4000+ this year.  Yesterday we got lit up by one of the worst passing teams in the country.  My brain says they haven't played anyone of substance so no big deal.  My gut says unless we fix whatever happened in the Ohio game, Keenum is going to demolish our secondary. 

go16blue

November 27th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^

We got lit up because we had to commit to stopping a great run offense, and a great scrambling QB. If we play Houston, we will be able to commit 7 people to coverage every single down, and go crazy with non-gap sound blitzes, knowing that we can stone their rushing offense with out front 4. Not to mention I don't think Houston has a WR as good as Posey, who was really the one reason we kept getting beat on double moves (which is fixable, btw).

BRCE

November 27th, 2011 at 5:51 PM ^

Other Big Ten teams also had to commit to stopping that great run offense and great scrambling QB and none of them got beat nearly as bad as we did.

Posey makes a difference but I think Miller just played way above his head and our pass defense just had about as bad a day as we anyone could have fathomed. Thomas Gordon hasn't done anything remotely as stupid as what he did on the bomb to C. Brown all season.

mgobleu

November 27th, 2011 at 8:08 PM ^

Srsly. I've watched at very least, pieces and parts of every ohio game this year, and large chunks of most of them. Somehow, miller made throws on Saturday that he hasn't hit all year. Granted, he took a lot of what Michigan gave him, but credit where credit is due; he practically had a breakout game yesterday. If he played all year like he did this weekend, they might be closer to 10 wins themselves.

JohnnyBlue

November 27th, 2011 at 5:20 PM ^

we put our corners on islands, thru 8 people in the box every down, of course we had issues.  

Against a team like houston you basically tell your dline kill the qb, they don't have to worry about containment or keeping in there lanes, we may get gashed for a few runs here and there but houston ain't going to beat you on the ground.  Keenum may be a good QB, but I have a hard time beleaving that there Oline can stop our Dline, he is going to have alot more pressure in his face than he has ever seen.

umchicago

November 27th, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^

i was at the game, so maybe i need to watch the replay, but i think overall the CBs did ok, except for floyd getting burned toward the end, but thanks for the over throw.

it was the safeties, imo, that failed miserably.  their blown coverages on the two big TDs was about half of OSUs passing yardage.  that is really disappointing considering we have a 5th year senior back there.  they haven't given up big plays all year.  then, boom, two in one game.  i doubt it happens again.

then, it was the LBs late in the game who gave up back-to-back big plays by letting the TEs get behind them. 

State Street

November 27th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^

For those who know the selection process better than I: is it within the realm of possibility for the Sugar bowl (with first at-large selection) to pick Stanford over Michigan?

Stanford has 1 loss, to our 2.  They also have Andrew Luck.

is it possible the Sugar picks Stanford first?

justingoblue

November 27th, 2011 at 5:19 PM ^

Conventional thought is that Stanford's fanbase won't travel well to New Orleans, while M is a known quantity. The Sugar Bowl committee is looking at a guaranteed sellout and good TV ratings with Michigan, not so much with Stanford.

On top of that, they need a big name in their bowl because they'll be taking either Houston or the BE champ with their next pick (they pick first and second to last). I'd bet anything that Michigan gets picked first for the Sugar, followed by Stanford in the FIesta, assuming we finish in the top-fourteen which seems pretty certain at this point.

Sven_Da_M

November 27th, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^

.... but if we do meet them there, we will boat-race them.  As in hang a 50-spot on them and give up a couple of touchdowns.

I give them credit, and the QB is awesome against inferior competition, but they've played no one...

The two closest games were UTEP and UCLA (5-7 and 6-6). 

HC Kevin Sumlin may not be around to coach in the bowl game.

 

 

FreddieMercuryHayes

November 27th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^

If we are lucky enough to play in a BCS bowl, and Houston is our opponent, I think it will be impairative we establish the running game.  You may call it gimmicky, but Keanum has the ability to pick us apart, and we need to keep him on the sideline.  That will be the key.   I'm not really familiar with their D, but I'm assuming we'll be able to run the ball.  Honestly, I don't like this match-up.  Everybody will be expecting us to win, so a win means we just beat a C-USA team, but a loss is big upset no matter how many games they may have won.  Wasn't Georgia over Hawaii like the only one of these non-AQ team BCS games to actually turn out like everyone expected?

david from wyoming

November 27th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^

They beat UCLA, a very good Tulsa team and a decent SMU team. Houston deserves a BCS spot and shouldn't be taken lightly. Their passing stats may be 'gimmicky' to some people but they can score points better than anyone this year, averaging 50+ points a game.

His Dudeness

November 27th, 2011 at 5:25 PM ^

The BCS is as crooked as they get. Putting us in over MSU because we are a better draw sets a bad precedent in my opinion. It takes away the value of an actual win on the field which is the entire point of the game. The BCS needs to go. Money everywhere and a bunch of greasy fingers on every cent of it. It's sick.

coastal blue

November 27th, 2011 at 5:48 PM ^

MSU still got beat twice on the road by 18 and 21 points. It would hardly be a crime if we - a team that lost narrowly twice on the road - got in over them. Granted we lost to them and have a worse loss in Iowa, we've still never been embarassed like they were against both Nebraksa and Notre Dame. 

Mr Miggle

November 27th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^

There's is no realistic scenario where we get picked ahead of MSU because we're a better draw. If they win, they're in the Rose Bowl. If they lose they won't be ranked high enough to be eligible for a BCS bowl. That rule is in place to prevent the kind of moneygrubbing shenaningans you decry. No high profile team outside the top 14 gets to leapfrog their way in. The most likely scenario will see the Sugar and Fiesta bowls picking 3 teams out of 4 that are eligible. Houston is guaranteed a spot, one of UM, Stanford and Boise will get left out.

coastal blue

November 27th, 2011 at 5:46 PM ^

They shouldn't. 

They have played zero good teams this year. 

If you take the other BCS non-AQ schools from year's past, they all at least tried to toughen up their schedules (Boise playing Oregon, Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Georgia, etc.) or at least played in a conference with two other legit teams (TCU, Utah, BYU) on top of a few AQ teams in their non-conference slate. 

Houston won one game against a UCLA team that has been mediocre/bad for years - so unlike Utah who had Michigan on the schedule when Michigan was 3-9 after Michigan had been successful in the recent past -  and they barely edged it. It reminds me so much of Hawaii in 2007, when they narrowly beat a 4-8 Washington team in their last game to go undefeated for the right to get stomped by Georgia. 

Even if our secondary isn't quite what Georgia's was in 2007 and even if Keenum and co. are better than Hawaii, our offense should score at will. 

I would expect something along the lines of 45-20 against Houston. 

ATLWolverine

November 27th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^

UCLA is a disaster this year and has been shellacked by 5 TD margins against multiple opponents (Houston won by less than a TD). Tulsa has beaten no one. SMU has 5 losses, including against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

Case Keenum is definitely a good QB, but you're definitely exaggerating the quality of their schedule.

chrs5mr

November 27th, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^

Could you even imagine if UCLA somehow pulls off the win this weekend and goes to the Rose Bowl?!?  That is the Pac-12's worst nightmare.  Rumors are swirling that Neuheisel will be fired next Mon after the game.

Tater

November 27th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^

I've said it twice already, but since Houston now has its own thread, I'll say it again.  Houston has played a weak schedule.  They have not played anyone as fast or physically tough as Michigan yet.  

Here is what they did:

 

1 Sat., Sep 3 UCLA W 38-34 1-0
2 Sat., Sep 10 @North Texas W 48-23 2-0
3 Sat., Sep 17 @Louisiana Tech W 35-34 3-0
4 Sat., Sep 24 Georgia State W 56-0 4-0
5 Thur., Sep 29 @UTEP W 49-42 5-0
6 Sat., Oct 8 East Carolina W 56-3 6-0
8 Sat., Oct 22 Marshall W 63-28 7-0
9 Thur., Oct 27 Rice W 73-34 8-0
10 Sat., Nov 5 @UAB W 56-13 9-0
11 Thur., Nov 10 @Tulane W 73-17 10-0
12 Sat., Nov 19 Southern Methodist W 37-7 11-0
13 Fri., Nov 25 @Tulsa W 48-16 12-0

SMU and UCLA had disappointing years, and they were really the best teams Houston faced.  Nobody else is any good.  This is a schedule full of tomato cans.  They don't deserve a BCS bowl, and hopefully Michigan is the team that gets to show them why.

If Michigan is lucky enough to get this team in a BCS bowl, it will be the best break they have gotten in years.  

BlueGoM

November 27th, 2011 at 7:24 PM ^

Never overlook any opponent.   Remember The Horror.

Anyway, they've played 3 teams that are over .500 and two that are 6-6.  The other 7 opponents have losing records:

http://web1.ncaa.org/football/exec/rankingSummary?year=2011&org=288

I haven't seen them play but the passing numbers they are putting up is crazy, which is worrying.  After tsio passing on us Saturday I'd be concerned about the matchup of our secondary vs crazy passing team.

 

 

go16blue

November 27th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^

Their passing offense is legit, but keep in mind while our DBs were getting beat by OSU (Posey, specifically), that was because we were only commiting 4 players to the pass, while the front 7 were commited to the run. Houston has no run offense to speak of, and probably not a very good OL, so we should be able to stop their run with only our front 4. That means we can commit 7 to coverage every single down, and our DBs are good enough to stop anybody when they are that one sided.

On top of that, Mattison would probably have a field day with pressures. Not only would the Okie package be extremely effective (and useable on 1st and 2nd down), but  we wouldn't have to worry about being gap sound like we were against OSU, as Keenum is a statue in the pocket.

On offense, OSU and Nebraska could keep us from tearing them up, I have no doubt we will have success against Houston.