Chris Spielman: "Michigan is a Top 10 team...right now"
September 28th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
There is not a dominating team in college football this year which is going to make for a really fun season.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:38 PM ^
LSU is definitely not overrated. They have a lot of great athletes and now have a QB who can take advantage of all that talent.
September 28th, 2015 at 5:30 PM ^
Playing a close game against Syracuse makes me think they won't survive the SEC
September 28th, 2015 at 6:06 PM ^
uhhhhhh
?????
Brandon Harris kinda stinks. Not that hard to turn around and hand the ball off. He also has a great O-Line
September 28th, 2015 at 6:09 PM ^
LSU has a QB they barely allow to throw. He averages about 6.5 yards per attempt and has a grand total of just over 300 yards passing in 3 games. Thing is, few teams can stand up to that offensive line and their bevy of talented RBs (it's not just Fournette). And the QB can run too.
September 28th, 2015 at 7:07 PM ^
September 29th, 2015 at 6:32 AM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 5:09 PM ^
derails this weekend.
September 28th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
High expectations often lead to big dissappointments.
September 28th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
No brake pumping, you can only meet expectations you have. Over shooting your expectations is what losers do, winners set high goals and if they reach them they set higher goals. The only way a winner reaches there goal is by failing.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^
"Over shooting your expectations is what losers do"
"The only way a winner reaches there goal is by failing."
So, to translate:
1. exceeding expectations is losing
2. Failing is winning
By that metric, it's an outrage that RR and Hoke were fired.
September 28th, 2015 at 5:42 PM ^
Is it possible that you're being purposely obtuse? People who set the bar low so as not to be disappointed by failure never experience the success of those that set the bar out of reach. And yes, if you set the bar low enough you will always be a "winner", in your own mind, but everyone will know that a 5-7 season is really a losing season. On the other hand, if you put the bar so high that you just can't reach it, you will be a "loser" in your own mind, yet everyone will know that a 12-1 season is nothing to scoff at.
So yeah, keep the bar low and you'll never be disappointed.
September 28th, 2015 at 6:09 PM ^
Granted, the point was not made particularly eloquently or clearly, but it's easy enough to infer the meaning.
As John Beilein once told Austin Hatch:
"One of the worst things you can do is set your goals too low and achieve them."
September 28th, 2015 at 8:38 PM ^
You can make more money with a flop than with a hit! We can do it. We can do it. I can't do it. We can do it. I can't do it.
September 28th, 2015 at 5:02 PM ^
It's one thing to set high expectations as a member of the coaching staff or a player, it's another to set them as a fan who has no input on the outcome of a game or season. Remember all the "expectations" before the season started and then the sky fell after the Utah game because those expectations were not met???
I'm cautiously optimistic but realize we're still in a rebuilding phase.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:02 PM ^
I almost forgot that games are won and lost on the message boards.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:16 PM ^
It was a surreal feeling Sunday. Such a satisfying win against a good team. I really expected a dogfight.
That being said, I am just too conditioned over the past decade to wait for the other shoe to drop. I keep waiting for Roy Roundtree to get tackled on the one yard line.
Lets get real excited when we clinch a bowl. Honestly, my expectations are much higher than that, but I feel a need to dampen my enthusiasm.
HOWEVA..... it would be nice to clinch a bowl appearance in 3 weeks against Sparty....... Convincingly.
September 28th, 2015 at 5:11 PM ^
Two things happened Saturday that haven't happened in a really long time for me:
-The game was boring by halftime.
-I felt sorry for our opponent.
When was the last time Michigan had a 31+ point lead over a ranked opponent at halftime? Never?
I'm also trying to temper my expectations but if Michigan plays like they did on Saturday for the rest of the season, nobody in the conference will even put up a fight.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:19 PM ^
Pumping the brakes is a big no no... you apply steady pressure to slow down safely.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^
This isn't last year, this isn't 5 years ago.
That said, focus on this next game.
September 28th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
And there's a comment about all of MSU's injuries. When will that end? How many times can one play that card?
September 28th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 4:38 PM ^
Gang up at the line and make them beat you throwing. Ruddock cannot win a game throwing.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
Damnit!!! I dind't think they'd be smart enough to figure that out!
/s
September 28th, 2015 at 5:14 PM ^
don't you think that's the best way to defend UM's offense - make Rudock beat you with his arm?
I'd much rather make Rudock beat me by making intermediate to deep throws than sit back with deep safeties in a cover two and let UM pound the ball in the running game.
September 28th, 2015 at 7:42 PM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if we see this strategy from here on out. Eight men in the box, make Jake Butt's life miserable every time he tries to release for a pass and take your chances with man coverage on the outside.
September 28th, 2015 at 8:41 PM ^
As if Harbaugh and Drevno probably aren't on to this potential strategy...
I'm very confident Harbaugh would have something interesting/innovative to deal with those issues. Teams determined to stop Toby Gerhart the same way at Stanford.
Also, who says Michigan doesn't relentlessly wreck on an 8 man box anyway?
3 yards, dust, repeat.
September 28th, 2015 at 5:24 PM ^
Those fuckers are going to be awfully surprised when we roll Jake Rudock out there...
September 28th, 2015 at 5:27 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 5:29 PM ^
You know, I don't want to go too far out on a limb here, but I'm guessing Harbaugh may anticipate teams keying against the run, and may have some counters and constraints to take advantage of teams that sell out to stop the ground game (and holy crap, does it feel good to type that sentance and feel confident that it's true, unlike recent years).
September 28th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
They are in denial on 11W. When we looked good agaisnt Oregon St and UNLV it was "They are nobody". We dominate BYU and it's "They were tired / injured / overrated."
Now they are setting it up against MSU in case we win "They have injuries."
They won't recognize Michigan as legit until we swim up and bite them in the ass. Works for me.
September 28th, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
They have been in denial since last Summer when Harbaugh to Michigan was just an idea.
September 28th, 2015 at 8:53 PM ^
Remember the part about him not being a good coach.
Or their wide receivers coach asking Jedd Fisch if he was "mad bro" and tweeting about his ring collection (that he obviously made happen).
Michigan's receiver development and other player development is novel to them.
September 28th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
Throw out the presumptious pre-season rankings and I think they would be ranked in or near ranked just outside the top 10. No matter though we need to keep fighting! Go Blue!
September 28th, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^
the quality of our wins (and especially our one loss) far exceeds those of many top 10 teams, OSU and MSU in particular. They've beaten exactly no one and have struggled against mediocre teams.
We barely lost to a top 10 Utah on the road, at night, at elevation, in the season opener. And then utterly destroyed the next three teams we played, including ranked BYU.
Meanwhile MSU barely beats what we now know is a crap Oregon team as their signature win and OSU is busy playing Western Michigan and a bunch of other cupcakes.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:03 PM ^
we have the 'signature loss' the committee looks for.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:03 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 4:10 PM ^
How could I forget that juggernaut of a team?
September 28th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 8:22 PM ^
5 years ago, you easily would have picked Michigan's current schedule as easier than Ohio State's, alas, Utah is apparently good now and Tech isn't. Not really OSU's fault.
And Ohio State's schedule would look a lot harder if they had to play Ohio State.
September 28th, 2015 at 8:56 PM ^
You are apparently the only member of your fanbase willing to acknowledge that. The rest of the sycophants and apologists on the Olentangy don't see 9 cupcakes and Michigan/Michigan State as anything of an issue.
September 28th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
And I really don't see an issue with the schedule being easy. OSU went out of their way to schedule a power program on the road. Things didn't work out because schedules are cyclical and programs are cyclical and OSU has no control over who is good five years after they were once good.
OSU's non-con scheduling track record is pretty solid. They've gotten unlucky recently that teams like Cal and Va. Tech haven't been good by the time they appeared on the schedule. OSU scheduled Cal when Marshawn Lynch and Aaron Rodgers were there. They also had Georgia back out. Next year we start a home-and-home with Oklahoma. Then TCU. Then Notre Dame and Texas at the same time. I can't wait for TCU to be ass in 2019 so OSU can get beaten up that their non-con is a joke.
Also, OSU can't help the Big Ten has a lot of blah teams in the middle. If Michigan was any good for the last several years, OSU wouldn't have had any scheduling questions to answer.
September 29th, 2015 at 8:51 AM ^
Yeah, in defense of Ohio State, they've scheduled a lot more tough (and interesting) OOC games than we have - Texas, VT, Oklahoma, TCU, ND and some others. This year is an aberration.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^
you were losing when he went out.
/s
September 28th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
we were ahead.
September 28th, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
If the offense can continue to build through the next few games and not have another UNLV performance, then expectations should go up. A few more games of solid running and seeing if Rudock can continue to evolve the passing game and they should be in business against MSU.
The defense appears very good at the moment....much more focused and solid than the last few years and able to execute on what they say they will do with press man coverage and penetration on line.
September 28th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
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September 28th, 2015 at 3:50 PM ^
Need a couple more good showings to get there I think. And the next 2 games will give us that chance. A dominating win against Maryland and a win against Northwestern should provide us the details we need to determine where we truly stand.