Bowl odds sliding towards K-State (Gardner's injury a factor)
http://www.oddsshark.com/ncaaf/michigan-kansas-state-odds-december-28-2013
I still see this as a relatively even matchup, but every day Gardner doesn't practice my confidence wanes. I know the team will play hard and not give up until that final whistle, but boy I'd rather see Gardner back there than Morris, if he can play at all effectively.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:15 AM ^
Detroit. Please
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:25 AM ^
and I just missed it. (I think if the Fords are in a firing mood, then O'Brien might work out; they're not getting a name coach so the best bet is to get an up and comer and stay out of his way.)
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:08 AM ^
That would get the offense going.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:29 AM ^
needing to decommit? Man I feel dirty for asking that. How bout transfers? I guess all is fair in love and recruiting. Ya gotta feel for Hackenburg though..
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:52 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:20 AM ^
When you look at things objectively, it's hard to pick Michigan in this one, regardless of the Gardner injury.
KSU has lost to an undefeated FCS powerhouse (can't laugh at this anymore thanks to The Horror), Texas, Okie St, Baylor, and Oklahoma. 3 of those losses are to teams currently ranked top-13 and Texas is hanging right outside the top 25. They've also won 5 of their last 6.
We, on the other hand, have lost 4 of our last 5 with "ugly" losses to PSU, Iowa, and Nebraska.
So if you're betting on this one, I'd be careful taking Michigan.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:56 AM ^
By the same standard applied to KSU, Iowa lost to BCS #4, #7, #19, and #23. They swept their non-ranked opponents, something we couldn't do.
PSU & Nebraska, on the other hand, were losses to teams in the B1G mediocre/putrid middle. Effin ugly.
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:22 AM ^
Good point. I guess I'm factoring in the way in which we lost to Iowa into my considerations.
December 23rd, 2013 at 8:56 AM ^
What about the way Kansas State lost their games? They got beat by 10 to a Texas team that was still really struggling. They were down 17 vs Oklahoma until 6 minutes left. They lost a 4th quarter lead to Baylor to lose by 10.
Those seem like fairly comparable loses. Kansas St is an alright squad. They aren't world beaters. I see no reason to really write off Michigan here, especially if the OL performs in any way as it did agaisnt OSU.
December 23rd, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^
Texas' game against KSU was right after they started 1-2 and began a 6-game win streak. I don't think you can say Texas was struggling at that point. And I don't really see how you can compare losses to Oklahoma and Baylor to Nebraska and Penn State, either.
KSU's best win was probably against TTU, who they hammered pretty well, but the fact that it came in November as opposed to our ND win in September--I think that says something. TTU's wheels did seem to fall off at that point though, since they lost to essentially the same teams that KSU did.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^
Texas' game against KSU was right after they started 1-2 and began a 6-game win streak. I don't think you can say Texas was struggling at that pointI don't follow this point. Texas was 1-2 and just fired its DC when it played KSU . . . how could you say they weren't struggling? That was their low point of the season.
December 23rd, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
After a string of wins against very weak teams, TTU did play Oklahoma tough in a loss, but then lost their last four games by between 18 and 29 points each. Any illusion that Texas Tech was ever a good team this year was lost at that point.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:09 PM ^
K-State hasn't beaten anyone better than Michigan all year.
Of course, they also haven't lost to anyone worse than Michigan all year. Michigan has two better wins than they have (MN, ND), but they also have two worse losses (not to mention the close wins against bad teams, something K-State hasn't had--I suppose TCU compares to NW but nothing compares to UConn or Akron).
December 23rd, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
Stop blaming these kids. It is real suprising that someone who calls himself a coach spends hours trying to convince others that it is always the players fault.
"If the OL performs IN ANY WAY as it did"
So if these young men do ANYTHING right we win? Your repeated message board essays can be boiled down to this one phrase.
The coaching staff is undefeated, the players are 7-5 , right "coach" ?
Good coaches find a way to get players to execute. Others blame the players.
If we go 12-0 next season I expect to see these same vigorous efforts explaining how the coaches are in no way responsible for the teams success.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:28 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:26 AM ^
So because I, like Vegas, think Michigan might come up short in this one, based on 24 games of empirical evidence, I'm not a real fan?
OK.
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:33 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:38 AM ^
You didn't. Real Tackles Wear 77 did.
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:05 AM ^
Not much has been said about his boo-boo, but if there is any significant risk of an aggravation affecting his 2014 health, I would expect Hoke to sit him.
A ~10-2 season next year clears the gloom. The boost from a Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl victory will last about one night.
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:53 AM ^
I think it's pretty clear that Gardner will ride the pine for this one. Even if he steps in for a few plays, he will be limited. Why not use this as a benchmark to see how far Morris has progressed?
On a related note, I've heard from somebody I trust that Borges will be done after the bowl game. Not looking to start a fracas or start a new thread, but sounds like there could be some shuffling on the staff regardless of what happens in the game.
Their reason for waiting until the bowl game isn't an accident either - sounds like they are going after some guys in the NFL/with late bowl games whom they don't want to disrupt, similar to what happened in 2010. I guess this must be Brandon's MO.
December 23rd, 2013 at 6:11 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:20 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
Two days before Christmas and we're hoping and praying a guy gets fired?
The offense needs to get better, and if Hoke can upgrade his staff he should do it, yes. But still, I'll never be happy over a guy getting fired, especially when it's simply a performance issue. We're not talking about a coach abusing his players or anything, just an offense underperforming our expectations.
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^
Come on man, it comes with the territory. Borges will be fine. He's been highly paid for many, many years and has an unjustifiably hot wife with a good job as well.
I won't have any hard feelings toward him if he gets canned, but I'll be glad he's gone and will wish him well.
December 23rd, 2013 at 1:47 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:23 AM ^
I hope this is true! Can you help clarify the NFL comment. I guess I find it hard to believe that an established OC would leave the NFL for anyhting less than a HC job.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:42 AM ^
an ex-player?
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:24 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 8:32 AM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 8:49 AM ^
Who is that and why should they have any inside knowledge that the rest of the fanbase doesn't?
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^
Bold statement. Your source inside the football office?
No offense, but I don't think I can believe this. I do think there needs to be a change at the OC level, but doubt it happens this year. I hope you're right.
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:24 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
Uh, yeah, exactly.
I've been around a while. I would never put a nugget like that out there it if I didn't get the goods from somebody reputable.
And no, I've never met Ace Williams in my life.
January 11th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
Nice bump, troll.
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^
He can start looking for the leak after the holidays.
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
I would love your source to be accurate but I'm not buying it. If they were going to make a change there is virtually no reason to leave Borges in place to coordinate a meaningless bowl game. IMO you'd have already made the change and would be looking for replacements now (Michigan would be extremely attractive given how much we are paying) as there's little, if any upside, in living him in place.
As I've said before - Hoke is not that mysterious or sneaky. He said during the season he loved and 100% agreed with Al's playing calling during the year because HE LOVED AND AGREED 100% WITH AL'S PLAYCALLING.
And when he said "there will be no changes in my coaching staff next year" he said it because "THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES IN HIS COACHING STAFF NEXT YEAR."
With Brady what you see is what you get.
December 23rd, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^
Replacing football coaches before the season ends is hardly standard operating procedure at Michigan. There was the one special teams coach under Carr, other than that I can't think of a single case.
Is Borges the only coach you would fire now if the rumors of a further staff turnover are true? He is still the QB coach too. Firing Borges now could be very detrimental for Morris' bowl preparation.
I think naming an interim OC is a tricky proposition. I can't help but think of West Virginia and Bill Stewart, or USC and Ed Orgeron. If the offense outperforms expectations you're left with a dilemma.
December 23rd, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
I appreciate your efforts. I am curious about the evidence in support of this statement. What has Borgy done for the quaterbacks during his 3 yrs that leads you to believe they would suffer immense harm if he were to leave?
December 23rd, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
Timmmaay.....
Here is exactly what he said. You are correct that my quotations were wrongly placed on his first endorsement although I do think you're playing semantics with it's intent. That is a bad habit of mine (putting quotation marks where they dont belong) and you're right to call me on it. But would you care to make a friendly wager as to who is calling our plays next September? I'll take Borges and you can have the field.
Anyway....I hope you have a Happy Holiday no matter how much my posts annoy you.
EDIT: To answer your second question what I would've hoped he woudve said would've been something like this: "Clearly we didn not achieve the results that Al, myself or the team would've hoped for. We will leave no stone unturned in getting this right and you can rest assured that me and my staff are working non-stop to turn this around." At least acknowledge you see there's a problem to be fixed - anything less IMO is both insulting and completely disingenous.
"Still, asked if he anticipates any staff changes to occur prior to the 2014 season, Hoke said that no, he did not.
"I anticipate (this) staff (will be back)," Hoke said after attending a UAW/Ford Child Identity Program event at Ford Field.
Asked again, if he does not anticipate any staff changes for the 2014 season, Hoke responded with the following: "Correct."
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^
I don't want to wager, I really have no idea what will happen.
On the play calling thing, I just disagree a whole lot. I don't think Borges was good this year either, but as I've said before; I don't think anyone in that type of leadership postition (M Football HC) can make any sort of public comment other than to toe the company line. It's leadership 101.
Merry Christmas.
December 24th, 2013 at 1:42 AM ^
I agree with you 100% Why the hell would you fire the OC a month before the bowl when any upgrade at the position could not take the job until after? You do that and your offensive recruits start looking around. If they plan on replacing Borges, and I don't think they do, it would only make sense to do it after the bowl. A quick removal and replacement would minimize the damage.
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:40 AM ^
Ace Williams said there would be at least seven transfers which included names we were depending on to remain, and he said Jackson would be retiring immediately after the bowl game.
I don't give much credence to Ace Williams either.
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^
part doesn't make a ton of sense to me, if your source is correct. You can fire a guy, name an interim replacement, and then try to get the guy you want through some quiet conversations. On the other hand, if you keep Borges for the bowl, the decision to keep or fire had better be made up. What is Morris plays and has a great game and his uniform stays clean? Then Borges would have had 2 good ones in a row...just worried about giving him another opportunity
December 23rd, 2013 at 8:54 AM ^
We shouldn't expect to go 10-2 next year. We'll be three years in to a five year roster rebuild. Improved, yes, but not quite to that point. The two most senior classes (2010, 2011) will still be depleted remnants of the RichRod era.
This past season our top three classes (2009, 2010, 2011) were similarly depleted, so it makes sense this would be a "bottoming out" season and a record like 7-5.
December 23rd, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
We SHOULD expect to go 12-0 next year and each year after that. This is MICHIGAN (fgs). I grew up expecting to go undefeated every year. Year after year we came up "a few plays short". I long for those days and will not let a subpar coaching effort lower my expectations.