ESPN Future Power Rankings
Michigan plummeted from being in the top 10 to almost ouf of the rankings dropping 15 spots. Granted it's ESPN and all that neat jazz and I think I was able to read this one article without the word Lebron in it, it does seem to be a fairly good review of the team. Essentially saying this year could go either way. They seem to put the entire season on the shoulders of the O-line and running backs. I don't disagree with it. For comparison, OSU is 3 and MSU is 17.
It's behind the paywall, but here's the excetpt on UM.
Coaching: No program fell more in our rankings than Michigan, which dropped 15 spots following a 7-6 season that included losses in six of the last eight games.
"Brady [Hoke] needs to win," Schlabach said. "The problem is, Urban [Meyer] has turned OSU into a juggernaut and now Dantonio has built a really good program at Michigan State."
He added that he thinks OC Doug Nussmeier is an upgrade over Al Borges, a veteran whose game plan had gotten stale.
Current talent: "I think they need to show marked improvement," Schlabach said. "They have to get better on both lines of scrimmage more than anything.
"Everyone is blaming [QB] Devin Gardner, but the line was so bad and they did not have any real run game."
Derrick Green and De'Veon Smith appear to be capable runners, but will the line be improved enough for max impact? Not from what I'm hearing.
With vets DE Frank Clark, LB Jake Ryan and NB Blake Countess, the defense could be relied upon to keep games close.
Recruiting: Here comes a painful comparison for Michigan fans: Chizik-era Auburn, without the Cam Newton title year. Michigan had the Nos. 6 and 7 classes in 2012 and 2013. If you recruit that well and you do not produce, it begins to work against you.
And then there's that menace to the South.
"I can't imagine Michigan is just going to let Ohio State go," Edwards said, "but I don't think Michigan is comfortable spending the kind of money and using the kind of resources to compete with Ohio State. I think it goes against the academic image they lean on.
"But you've got to become more of a football factory if you're going to compete on that level."
Title path: The gap from Michigan to Michigan State and Ohio State does feel wide at the moment, but remember that a beleaguered Wolverines squad did manage to push the Buckeyes to the brink last season.
Notre Dame rolls off the schedule after this season, so that could be helpful. Then again, the start of the 2015 schedule is really pretty bizarre, regionally: at Utah, Oregon State, UNLV, BYU. Michigan is still in Ann Arbor, Michigan, isn't it?
Program power: Momentum is definitely working against Michigan. But we said the same thing a year ago about Oklahoma, a program with similar history and tradition (albeit a far more stable coaching situation). Hoke's program is at a crossroads. He could be Muschamp entering 2015, or he could be Bob Stoops. That's one heck of a spectrum.
http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11187584/college…
if you want to be sick, here's the excerpt on OSU.
Coaching: Meyer once again rates just behind Saban, per our panel. That makes sense, even with last year's season-ending thud that kept the Buckeyes from playing FSU in the BCS National Championship.
Edwards sees it as a chess-and-checkers thing when it comes to Meyer and the Big Ten. "I think the entire Big Ten is in danger of getting left behind by Ohio State," said Edwards. "For the majority of the Big Ten schools, the most important thing has been winning a Big Ten title and winning the Rose Bowl. That still means more to them than any other conference.
"Urban came in, and he wasn't coming in with the Big Ten mentality. He was coming in with the Florida-SEC mentality. He wanted to compete for national titles. That's the attitude he's taking."
Current talent: Braxton Miller is my pick to win the Heisman, but he was a Jim Tressel recruit and is entering his final year. Still, Miller is just one example of OSU's high-end talent. Defensive end Joey Bosa was an immediate-impact prodigy last season and the D-line is now loaded with high-end NFL prospects. LB Raekwon McMillan could be another one this year. On offense, Dontre Wilson and Jalin Marshall could easily break out as skill players in 2014.
Meyer expressed disappointment that the Buckeyes had to redshirt a half-dozen defensive freshmen last year (they aren't always as ready as Bosa was). That disappointment will likely morph into excitement this fall, when young players like CBs Eli Apple and Gareon Conley crack the rotation. The depth chart was strong when Meyer arrived, and has only strengthened since.
Recruiting: Meyer and his assistants were highly rated in this area a year ago, and they remain so in 2014.
Ohio State's success in recruiting has a lot to do with Meyer's SEC mentality, which we discussed above. Incoming freshmen are also obviously attracted by the talent OSU already has on board. But on top of all that, Meyer's decision to hire former Penn State ace recruiter Larry Johnson Sr. to coach the defensive line has given this staff an extra weapon on the recruiting trail.
Johnson's fingerprints were all over the recent commitments of two RecruitingNation five-stars, LB Justin Hilliard and DE Jashon Cornell. Recruiting is in great shape overall. Particularly next to Big Ten peers.
Title path: FSU was the only other team rated higher, but perhaps Ohio State should have been No. 1. As Edwards said: "They have one game, against the Michigan State Spartans."
Buckeyes fans would argue that the difficulty of the nonconference schedule was amplified with the addition of the Virginia Tech Hokies, but a matchup with the Hokies doesn't have the same sizzle it had three or four years ago. A schedule including Virginia Tech likely will not be perceived much differently by the selection committee than one with Alabama opening against West Virginia. The Buckeyes do make the trip to Virginia Tech in 2015.
They begin a home-and-home with Oklahoma in 2016, and add a trip to North Carolina in 2017. They also didn't know the California Golden Bears were going to stink when they scheduled that series. So it's not as if OSU has been cowardly in its scheduling.
Program power: A playoff run, let alone a national title, could put Ohio State in the same class as Alabama and FSU. As is, the programs aren't far apart from each other. "I don't think they look at themselves as competing with the rest of the Big Ten," Edwards told me. "I think they're competing with Alabama, Florida State, Oklahoma, USC and teams like that."
That's not good news for the Big Ten.
"I think Ohio State is going to keep getting better," Edwards said. "I think [the Buckeyes are] going to run away from that conference."
"They have one game, against the Michigan..."
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"...State Spartans."
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"will the line be improved enough for max impact? Not from what I'm hearing."
I wonder what he is hearing, and from where. It really doesn't sound good. Hopefully, the OL will be serviceable enough come the fall.
maybe he's going off the spring game? It's not like UM is getting a ton of coverage or deserves a ton of coverage, so unless someone is talking to Nuss and company there's really only speculation in that. I have hope we will be improved. I think if Devin gets the time he needs to throw, his decision making will become dramatically better. He could be an elite QB this year throwing to what some would call an average receiving core. We could potentially go undefeated. On the other side we could win 7 again and my #firehoke tweets can replace my #fireborges tweets.
A lot of these reporters spend the offseason traveling around campus to campus visiting with coaches and teams. You know, doing actual reporting. If they are "hearing something" then its probably from a well connected person. If it was based off of what they saw on the spring game, they would have said that.
He's probably not hearing as much as faithful MGoBloggers hear from the tidbits posted from the Fort. It's clear the OL won't have "max impact" this year. At best, I think people are hoping they'll be "average" (or a skosh below, which is still an upgrade).
Being able to say "Our OL is bad" would be a nice change of pace from "our OL is historically bad." Here's to improvement!!
The Meyer love is well over-blown. He deserves to be thought of as one of top coaches in the country, but he's not won a conference title since his 2008 NC year. He needs to win the B1G before he runs away and hides in the NC game every year. Great coach, sure. But it won't be the Big One and little 13.
I agree that he's been good, and would trade records obviously. My point is that he's not heads and shoulders above the rest of the league. His 12-0 year was not dominant enough over a very bad B1G for me to think he wouldn't have been crushed by Bama, and wouldn't pick him to beat some other BSC bowl teams either.
Last year, he had the roster to win the B1G and the NC, but didn't do either, and lost to Clemson. That doesn't mean he isn't a great coach, but to suggest he's just going to leave the conference behind is premature and over-blown.
last two years but we will never know. There is no way Meyer would have walked in here with this record and come out substantially better. You can't automatically create upperclassmen.
isnt that superior. Nor are the Buckeyes. They won't be undefeated this regular season and aren't seperating themselves. Ask MSU! Don't forget they are a bunch of cheaters and it's only a matter of time before something blows up there. Not to mention being one of the biggest choker universities of all time. I like the future outlook of Ohio.
He walked into Braxton Miller, a 3 year starting offensive line, and a soft schedule.
Man I can't wait for the season to start. These next 7 weeks are going to be agonizing listening to everyone tell us how afwul Michigan is because of last year. It would be interesting to see what similiar previews had to say about MSU prior to last season.
ask and you shall receive. They weren't too mean to Sparty, but they haven't bought the hype yet.
Coaching: "[Mark] Dantonio is East Lansing tough," Huard said. "There are fake tough guys, and he isn't one of them. [DC Pat] Narduzzi and Dantonio don't need to rewrite their playbooks with fancy new schemes. They do what they do very well.
"While I don't expect them to win in Eugene [Oregon] in Week 2, I don't expect them to beat themselves, either."
Current talent: A year ago, Connor Cook was battling for the backup QB job. Now he's rising up draft boards, a potential first-rounder next spring. It helps that he will throw to senior WRsTony Lippett and Keith Mumphery, both of whom improved greatly once Cook won the job midway through last season.
Michigan State also returns one of the top five RBs in the country, in Jeremy Langford.
Defensively, Narduzzi still has a ton with which to work. DE Shilique Calhoun is an all-conference performer, and FS Kurtis Drummond and CB Trae Waynes are, as well.
Recruiting: "There's a false perception that their roster is littered with two- and three-star kids," Luginbill said. "There are more four-stars than people think. They recruit better players than people think."
It's true. The Spartans didn't have a single five-star in the past two classes, but they did have 13 four-stars.
They do a nice job recruiting outside their region, too. All-American CB Darqueze Dennard, for one, grew up in rural Georgia.
Title path: If not for an early stumble against Notre Dame, before they found Cook, the Spartans would have played for the national title last season. So the path is just fine, thank you. They're again the primary roadblock to Ohio State's chances. Even if MSU loses close at Oregon, I would bet that it could still win out and get in the playoff hunt.
Program power: Despite last year's breakthrough success, Michigan State is still a bit low in this category. Perhaps we have to see some offensive sustainability -- or a win at Oregon -- to really buy into the Spartans fully.
Thank you, friend. Perhaps it is just me, but I am more worried about the MSU game than OSU. Neither seems particularly winnable at this point, but it is really hard to envision a win in East Lansing this year.
According to their write up:
"Title path: If not for an early stumble against Notre Dame, before they found Cook, the Spartans would have played for the national title last season."
Except, Connor Cook played almost the whole game. They had already "found" Cook, he just wasn't very good. 16/32, 50%, 4.2 yards/reception and a 95 QB rating. Their analysis is very generous to Michigan State, who actually turned to Maxwell in the closing drive because Cook wasn't getting it done. Cook isn't a first round talent, he just had the fortune to play OSU and Stanford, who are both lousy in pass defense (112th and 98th respectively.)
I wonder what he is basing that on. Most likely a combination of the spring game and last season, I would guess. I don't think it is too crazy to expect the OL to at least look a little better than they did in the spring. I'm with you though, with all the talent the OL has (on paper), there has to be some improvement...right?
I don't think by "max impact" that he means "some improvement."
I've seen you say "started all freshman and a sophomore on the OL" a couple times now and I'm not quite sure where you saw or heard that. Last year their starting OL was a RS sophomore at LT (Robinson), a RS freshman at LG (Kozan), a true junior at C (Dismukes), a RS junior at RG (Slade), and a RS freshman at RT (Young). Now, I will certainly agree with you that their RS freshman played much better than our RS freshman on the OL, but they did have some experience mixed in there as well.
Its just good posting to never let facts get in the way of making your point.
Much more young than what?
I honestly don't mean to call you out but you are wrong again about that. Their 2010 starting OL had only one non senior starter, Brandon Mosley, who was a RS junior.
The lines were just about the same in age - our age was in the tackles, theirs was in the center and 1 guard. The rest of the lines match up very equally in "age".
Even if you want to offer up a starting center upperclassmen is more valuable than a left tackle our center was generally the best of the 3 underclassmen ... and it is really hard to make an argument that 2 lines similar in age/experience - that if we had Taylor Lewan as center and Glasgow was a left tackle we'd have a line capable of playing with Alabama's defense last year and do well in the SEC week by week and have a bazillion yards rushing like Auburn did.
Sorry I am not buying this stock. Something was very amiss last year and either every recruiting service nailed every Auburn under classmen and whiffed on ours or the coaches at our school did a poor job compared to the coaches at Auburn in regards to line play.
UCLA likewise had a line YOUNGER than ours on average and while not an awesome line their offense looked good much of the time and there is no talk on UCLA boards last year about having the worst OL in their school history.
Let's not make excuses - it was horrid last year and Glasgow vs Auburn center was not the root cause of 90% of it. They had 4600 f**** yards last year on the ground and a 6.3 average, much of that versus SEC defenses. They averaged ~340 yds a game. When we played 1 elite defense we had negative yardgage. Another average defense we went 27 for 27. SEC like power UConn had penetration in our backfield half the run plays.
So yeah, if our left tackle was a RS frosh and our center was a RS jr I am sure we'd have matched Auburn's production.
I don't know if your comment was directed specifically at me, but I agree with everything you are saying. I was just pointing out the Auburn did not start 4 freshman and a sophomore in either 2010 or 2013, as was mentioned above.
No - to Arlo.
I don't think anyone thinks there wasn't something wrong last year. Coaches didn't get it done, players didn't get it done, and it obviously wasn't all (or mostly) due to age. The line was terrible, the scheme was complicated and the combo was a disaster.
SEC was making his point (the coaches suck) but kept exaggerating and mis-stating facts. Pointing out the errors and hyperbole in his posts doesn't mean the players and coaches are off the hook for that performance.
What Auburn did last year was unusual given their OL personnel. To expect that most years from most programs including the next AU line that is that inexperienced is a mistake. UCLA was nearly as awful as UM in sacks allowed and TFLs allowed.
This year's UM line seems more aligned with AU's experience last year. I expect an improvement, but I expect it to be more like UCLA than AU.
Kalis and Glasgow suck. Plain and simple. Borges is gone. That is big. Don't forget that boys.
I think we would need to know how this person to whom they spoke defined "max impact" to evaluate this statement a little more accurately. Our offensive line is indeed composed of highly rated talent, but many of them save for the ones who just arrived are experiencing their second coordinator and a new offense as well, so there has been some reset on the learning curve. How steep the curve and how fast the learning? We shall see. The best hope - and other sources make it seem hopeful - is that a simpler scheme and an actual foundation from which to build leads to improvement. I don't know that we need to expect a complete 180 here in the first year with Nussmeier, just a turn in the right direction might do the offense wonders as a whole.
It's hard to disagree with much. The challenges won't be fixed at UM and the records won't change until the o-line gets older and only time fixes that. Hopefully they improve, but they won't be good this year. But, I do think some of the talent there like Funchess, Gardner, Peppers, Lewis, Ryan, etc. will generate a little more buzz that continues to keep recruits interested. It may be hard to pull national top 100 kids out of the south or the west, but they'll continue to recruit the mid-west just fine.
Urban Meyer uses RR's offense and has turned Ohio back into a National Championship contender. Dave Brandon mandates that Michigan uses the "Anything But RR's Offense" offense and Michigan is barely a divisional "contender."
The only way that Michigan is going to compete with Ohio's 21st century offense when they are saddled with a 20th century offense is to have a bagman or bagmen who can buy a personnel advantage such as those at Bama.
That simply isn't going to happen at the University of Michigan until it becomes "legal" in the eyes of the NCAA. Until then, being a Michigan fan is going to be a test of loyalty.
Does MSU use bagmen, too? What about Wisconsin? To say you either have to cheat or use a spread offense to win seems kind of silly. I would say the only way Michigan is going to compete with OSU and other top programs is if their coaches can start developing some of this top flight talent.
Really? Michigan did go toe to toe with OSU last year. Also, last I checked MSU wasn't using a spread offense nor was Stanford, and they seemed to do o.k. against schools like OSU and Oregon. The meme that "teams can't compete at a high level unless they use spread offenses" is just as ignorant and lazy as the "spread offenses can't win in the Big Ten" meme.
Agreed. Stanford, MSU, Bama. That system seems to work just fine. As does spread.
Throw in some meme about Jimmy and Joe's over X and O's here.
You can't be serious.
Arbitrary dreck is arbitrary.
If they were so smart and knew so much about Michigan, we should have been down lower the last couple of years when the roster was decimated. If anything, we should be trending up as we get upperclassmen and have the retention of players the last several years.
More ESPN filler shit.
It's the usual "paint with the broadest bush possible" commentary. Also the ubiquitous jerking off of the biggest name, Meyer.
like so many of Michigans fans, ESPN bought the hype.
that they really don't know what's going on with the teams now.