Are Stanford, USC and Texas all Bad at Football?
USC struggles against WMU, beats Stanford and edges Texas. Stanford beats Rice loses to USC and loses to SDSU (!). Texas loses to Maryland (!), beats San Jose State and gets beaten by USC.
So within the 3 teams we have a couple of big loses, some close wins against each other and blowouts against some teams best characterized as NPC's. Anybody with a pulse outside of this troika has given them a game or beaten them.
The narrative is that they are all good or improving. Put on a different set of lenses and they are all bad and struggling. I guess that this is why we play the games.
Go Blue.
September 17th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
then yes USC at 4 is good too.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
Nobody knows how the season will finish, but what has USC done to earn that #4 ranking this season in games?
Struggled against a WMU team that just struggled against Idaho.
Beat a Stanford team that is 1-2 and won't be ranked.
And barely beat a 1-2 Texas in 2OTthat also won't be ranked.
For all of the talk of it being the end of the season for Michigan at least we have a bonafide win (over Florida who just beat ranked Tennessee) and at this point Air Force "might" be better than Stanford.
September 17th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
teams some trouble. They are a pretty good team.
September 17th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
I think SDSU is a pretty decent squad, so Stanford losing to them on the road is not as shocking. USC may not look as good in another conference but they should get through the PAC-12 with a pretty good record though. Texas just played over their heads yesterday with a backup QB. I expect them to finish 7-5.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
The Brady Hoke coaching tree is alive in San Diego!
September 17th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
was that ever in doubt?
I do think USC is overrated. Darnold does not look like a Heisman contender nor does USC look like a playoff contender, especially now that some of the glow on their Stanford win has faded. I like UW to win the Pac12 again
September 17th, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^
...but by the end of the year if the O Line and the young receivers continue to develope...they will have one of the top offenses in the entire country...and they have an excellent chance to be playing in the College Football Playoffs. Darnold has had some early struggles, but is still one of the top players in College Football.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
"...if the O line and the young receivers continue to develop..."
Sounds like another team I know.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^
The USC o-line look like a bunch of chumps. Darnold and those two running backs can be pretty good. I think they all had the flu last night though and a bad case of the runs if you catch my drift.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
seems like one of those teams that's really talented but with iffy coaching so they'll play up down to the competition on any given day. Not unlike a lot of Lloyd Carr's teams. Because of this, they'll be prone to dropping at least a couple games they shouldn't. But they could also beat Bama.
Texas is way TBD. My guess is they'll improve a lot over the course of the season.
September 18th, 2017 at 5:51 PM ^
here.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
Marshall Faulk is really good.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
Stanford: No concerns
USC: Require coaching change talent is there and can win with it now.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:28 AM ^
Stanford is 1-2 but no concerns and UM is 3-0 with double digit wins in all 3 and the sky is falling...
September 17th, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
Ask a Stanford fan and I'll bet they say no worries at Michigan but the sky is falling in Palo Alto.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
That might be hard to do. There are only a dozen or so football fans in the state of CA.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
I live here and can confirm this to be true.
Was just going to comment something to the effect of "good luck finding a Stanford fan to ask him that question".
Last night was USC's first sellout since 2013!! USC! And it was obviously only a sellout because of Texas fans. They apparenlty did not sell out their game agaisnt UCLA in 2015, which boggles the mind.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
I went to the USC/Stanford game last week. The stadium was half full at kickoff. Really made me appreciate the Ann Arbor game day atmosphere.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^
here from back in the 90's when they had some respectable teams. The only game that felt close to a Michigan game day experience was the USC game. I did enjoy going to games in November wearing shorts and a t-shirt, with a sweatshirt to sit on though (until the sun fell behind the foothills - then it got chilly.)
Back in A2 now and very much enjoying the game day atmosphere here.
September 17th, 2017 at 1:48 PM ^
Stanford, with Chryst at qb, and a great rb in Love (13 carries for 184 yds last night) just matched the amount of points U.C. Davis scored at SDSU two weeks ago. Stanford's TOP last night was 19 minutes.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^
I think that's because rating Stanford is purely an academic exercise for us, so to speak, while watching M struggle is visceral.
So, yeah, zero concerns if Stanford goes 1-11 like they did the year before JH arrived.
Grave concerns if M goes 10-2 and doesn't look like it's ever getting better on the OL...
September 17th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^
are somewhat lower than here. If a coach ran a clean program and went 8-4 every year, he'd have a job the rest of his life at Stanford (or Iowa). Not so much at Michigan.
September 17th, 2017 at 1:23 PM ^
I look at David Shaw as a thinker who makes things happen...what's going on out there he'll have it fixed soon.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
may not be good right now but they have talent and athletes. Competing against SC in LA kind of surprised me, especially with the QB situation, but didn't shock me.
September 17th, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^
I give you props for consistency. You haven't bashed on UM or Speight unlike the vast majority of posters. I think Michigan will be great by the end of the season and better than all of these teams.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
Decent and good teams consistently get better over the season. And in early games seem to play at the level of their opponents...weird phenomena
September 17th, 2017 at 10:24 AM ^
Right now, Alabama, Oklahoma and Clemson have looked very impressive in all three weeks. The rest of college football hasn't.
Although the media really seems to be having orgasms over Penn State for pounding Akron, Georgia State and a Pitt team that looks VERY bad.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^
Actually they didn't pound Pitt. Their performance against the Panthers was similar to Michigan's performance the last two weeks.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
game. Pitt competed but PSU made some big plays. McSorley was just okay. But even when they're just okay, they're capable of scoring alomst at any moment, especially with Barkley.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
True. Oklahoma State was up 49-7 at halftime yesterday on Pitt's own field.
Rise those guys above Penn State in the rankings. And then drop Penn State another 10 spots for being Penn State.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
Agreed. Ten spots for Jerry. Then 10 more for his boy. Then nuke it.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
Otherwise Cowherd might start pushing more stories about Harbaugh and the Colts lol
September 17th, 2017 at 10:06 AM ^
Or Harbaugh back to Stanford book it!
September 17th, 2017 at 10:05 AM ^
I think USC is overrated, but I don't think Texas is as bad as everyone thought after losing to Maryland because I think Maryland is solid.
Stanford just blew their shot at the playoff, and USC looks like the only legit contender this year out of the PAC so we'll see.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:06 AM ^
Washington?!
September 17th, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
this year. But Huskies have an easier schedule than Wazu, it looks to me, plus get them in Seattle.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
I forgot about Washington after they struggled with Rutgers, silly me.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
Struggled? They prolly had a very vanilla game play against Rutgers.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
If you let Rutgers score you struggled.
September 17th, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^
Against a pretty weak opponent, yes, but still.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
They gave up over 300 yards to Rutgers last year as well on the way to the playoffs.
September 17th, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^
and then got waxed...
September 17th, 2017 at 10:19 AM ^
My Hungover Hot Take points to Yes
September 17th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
I watched USC-Texas, so my hungover hot take on at leas those teams might be:
- USC is possibly slightly overrated, but still a good team
- Texas....too early in the Tom Herman era to tell.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
What the heck is an NPC?
Non-Playoff Contender?
September 17th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
Nutella Panini Cake?
September 17th, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
Time to dust off the panini press.
September 17th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
Recipe please!