ESPNs Key Stretch: Michigan
Adam's Take on MSU, IOWA, PSU. Blah,Blah, Blah.
But hey, it's somthing.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/13899/key-stretch-michigan
Nothing earth shattering at all in his assesment. We have had 100+ threads on this subject already this summer.
My feeling is we will come out of our "key stretch" 2-1. But like he said I am more interested at this moment in our first 2 games. Sept 4th is closer than ever!!
I think 2-1 in that stretch isn't a stretch (ha). I have to think PSU's offense has to suffer with the loss of Clark, and I think we beat State. Iowa, to me, is the most challenging of the three and we could have beat them last year with all the big plays the defense gave up. So 3-0 isn't out of the question. But it's July so nothing is out of the question at this point.
If it is a stretch, I sure hope they remember to count it towards practice hours
does the same gameplan against Michigan which is leaving 6 guys in the box to defend against Michigan(for whatever reason), Michigan should be able to run at least 200 yards, easy. Michigan can beat Iowa, they're well-coached team but they're not that good.
I think it'll be very tough to win 2, but it is possible. If we win 2, we could be looking at a New Year's Day Bowl.
Fuck. But I guess Ritt has to write something during the last of this dry period
I'm going to go check my mgopoints
2-1 is a logical prediction. I think we take MSU and PSU this year. MSU lost a lot on their o-line and receiver corps from graduation and jail. I fail to see how PSU is going to be competitive with their QB play struggling with experience. All of the reports I have read Newsome has been having a really difficult time picking up the offense. These reports remind me of our QB's performance during last season's offseason. Iowa is going to be very difficult. I love their defense.
Newsome isn't that awful. I know he had a bad spring game, but he should be ok. Every other position group besides QB and LB will be improved. PSU will still be a tough game, especially since it's at PSU at night.
I should make my signature "We will not lose to Iowa in 2010" because I say it in half the threads. Also, it is truth.
That's a good sig, but I like the one you have now better.
I think Iowa and MSU are a best chances of wins in this stretch. PSU might not be a better team than the other two, but it is on the road at night and we're still a young team.
Should the sig read "And heRE we are..."? No biggie, but might as well fix it, eh? It is a good sig.
Wow, I've had that sig up for almost a year and never noticed that. Good catch. Thanks.
I'm looking at the '09 and '10 pair of games against Iowa as a very similar situation to the '08 and '09 pair of games against ND. '08 ND and '09 Iowa were both road games and it took a plethora of turnovers for us to lose those games.
We all know what happened in '09 when we took on a ND team that, let's be honest, was supposed to easily beat us. I think a big part of this was home-field advantage. I just have a gut feeling this home-field advantage will help us edge out the win against Iowa this year.
Like you, road games still scare me.
We are young, but a young team on a roll might not realize that a road night game should be tough either.
I shouldn't admit this here but, every game I've been to since graduation (a long, long time ago), we've lost. Games we should have won (Toledo), we lost while I was in the stands. I'm going to the Iowa game this year. I fully expect the curse will be broken at that game.
and we lose, you can never attend another game again.
in for wins over MSU and PSU. Iowa will be a killer, and truthfully, our chances in that are slim, but NEVER underestimate the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.
Shockingly, PSU could (should?) be the easiest of these three, because the Lions have had a pretty substantial outflow of talent the past few years without as much flowing in, and I think they're finally going to feel it. MSU will be a charged game because, obviously, Michigan is gonna want to end the losing streak, while MSU will probably feel that they can make a huge statement by extending the streak to 3 games. That said, I think we have more than enough talent to do it.
I just can not get past the importance of the first two games of the season. The difference between 2-0 and 0-2 IMO will be the difference between 1-2 or 2-1 in this "key" stretch. From fan support, recruting, team psyche 2-0 in this critical third year would be huge and 1-1 is a must.
I'm pretty sure we'll lose against Iowa. As for the other two games, I say toss up. I would also lean towards 1-2
Why?
I think that all 3 of the games are winn-able but I don't think that we'll win all 3 or lose all 3. We'll either be 1-2 or 2-1 all in close games.
I can't say that I believe Michigan will lose against one of the better teams in the nation without getting negged? I'm not even being pessemistic, I just think Iowa will have a great team and will probably be 1st/2nd toughest our entire year even at home.
Last year's team was still pretty young -Tate was a freshman getting his second intro to Big Ten play- and made plenty of mistakes yet by the end of the game we were still in it. This years team will be a little more mature, a little more experienced, we'll be playing at home in front of a ruccous crowd; I respect Iowa too, but this one isn't chalked up quite yet.
3 -0. State's going to be a shootout. But I like our O-line better than their O-line, and our D-backs bettter than their D-backs. Tate took them to overtime last year, this year I am thinking a win by over a touchdown
Iowa is going to be the toughest of the 3, but last year proved that our offense will cause them a lot of problems. They struggled against mobile QB's and we happen to have a couple of them. They do well in the close grind out games, if we jump ahead and force them to go to the air more, and if linebacker play has improved (I think it will) then I like my chances against what I believe to be an over rated QB.
Penn State should be fun and the atmosphere will be great, but unfortunatelly for them, we will be coming in hot and they will still be in a QB shuffle. Their D will be strong, but not strong enough to stop our potent O that's hit it's stride. We stop their win streak at 2.
I can't wait for this season.
it matters more if you like our D-line more than you like their O-line (which i do) and if you our O-line more than their D-line (which i do, if healthy). Our Dbs vs their WRs though...yikes for now.
This post got me more pumped up for the season than anything else has so far. For that, +1
They struggled against mobile QB's and we happen to have a couple of them.
Josh Nesbitt begs to differ. Iowa did struggle against Denard, but the only other mobile QB that they face was shut down.
Nesbitt isn't fit to hold Denard's jockstrap.
You can't get to 13-0 without going 3-0 in this stretch, so I'll go with 3-0.
Rodriguez's offense backslid in Big Ten play last year
can someone explain this? i suppose he means as the year went on. there is no way he meant relative to 2008.
He meant as compared to OOC play. After all, we never had a day in conference play like we did against ND, and CERTAINLY never like we did against EMU.
We also had injury issues particularly with Molk, Tate and every running back.
Even with an injured Forcier, Michigan marched the ball right down the field on what I think might have been their first drive, and couldn't do jack after Molk was hurt. This would lead me to conclude that with better line play, Michigan can march it up and down the field against PSU. When you take into consideration an older, heavier, more-experienced line and put a healthy Molk back in, along with a healthy QB, not to mention possible PSU "growing pains" at QB, Michigan could surprise a lot of people against PSU.
I don't think Rittenberg will do this becasue he seems to have a lot more integrity than the average national guy, but I would imagine that a lot of the writers who are currently dismissing Michigan's chances to even make a bowl will be among the first to say "I told you so" when Michigan wins 8 or 9 this year.
Martavious Odoms was down for a stretch too. I must apologize for referring to him as "Shartavious Scrotums" during some frustrating monents in 2008 though.
I didn't want to start a new thead with rant but just happened on First take
That Bowling Green Buckeye lover (Jay Crawford) just tried to throw UM (assuming C. Woodson) under the bus with the Bush Heisman story. They were debating (Skip and an unknown guy)on First Take and that fuckstick had to bring it up. It was dismissed but it still brought up by that agenda having fucktard. The story was on the SEC and Bush not Michigan. Sorry I had to rant but guess who just made my list.
Everytime I hear or see Skip Bayless I want to punch him in the ovaries. I understand the need to vent, but turning the channel to avoid such frustration would be my advice. I've done that successfully when Valenti talks anything about Michigan and has saved me many times from ramming my car into a goddamn bridge abutment.
Serenity now...serenity now.
This is without a doubt the key stretch...it's the stretch that started our downfall last season.
I feel very confident we can take MSU at home this year. I think we're gonna see more improvement from last year to this year than they will.
Our offense proved that we can at least move the football against Iowa's tough defense in the 30-28 game. Iowa had a lot of good fortune last season and I'm not sure if it'll last. I anticipate our pass rush to be better under second year DC Greg Robinson. Look for Van Bergen and Jonas Mouton and company to put the heat on Stanzi and rattle his cage.
PSU is a bit of a mystery at this point cause I don't really know how their QB will perform. It's on the road, too...but we do have two weeks to prepare for it.
If we can get past UConn and ND, we will enter this "key stretch" with a 5-0 record. Even taking one of these three will put us at 6-2 and in position for a very good bowl game. We just can't drop all three again or RR's seat gets a lot warmer.
Anything worst then 3-0 in this stretch is UNACCEPTABLE. We are MICHIGAN! We are BETTER than all 3 of those teams and are corch is better two.
Go BIG BLUE!!!!111!!!!11!!
We have another year of practice on offense. Our offense is probably going to be pretty scary now, no matter who is in at QB.
So long as the offense works, the defense will suffice well enough to allow the offense to keep scoring.
Stretchgate. I am just so numb to the stories and in need of coffee right now, I read it as a terrible pun to start a story.
i am going to say that the key stretch for UM this year is going to be @Penn State, Illinios, @Purdue. These are three games that an improved Michigan team has a great shot at winning. They lost all three of these games last year, not closely to PSU, Illinois was close until Roundtree caught from behind-gate and Purdue was close. Michigan wins 2 of those, they are at 7 wins and a bowl.
This year, PSU will be more on UM's level, and Ill and Purdue will be below. Michigan NEEDS at least 2 of these 3 to have a bowl season. if not, we are in the same place next season or worse. if so, that is progress heading into a big year with a good home schedule.
With the high-octane offense we're going to have this year, I think we lay the revenge smackdown on MSU and destroy them. Iowa's going to be tricky, since they return a very good team, but it's at home. Going to Happy Valley is never easy, but PSU's offense isn't going to be great. If our offense can put together a few good plays, I think we got a shot.
Long story short, beat MSU, split PSU/Iowa.
Its getting pretty bad over there, those lost UM souls who still fight the good fight and haven't found this place yet. Perhaps we should start some MGoCommunity Service and sends some guy/gals over to ESPN to bring some MgoPain to the masses.
Frankly, I expect UM to win that one.
Their offensive playcalling is terribly conservative, Stanzi is a garbage, and while the defense is good, it can be exposed by spread teams.
Iowa is a solid team, but if you are the athleticallty superior team like UM is, you should win if you don't make mistakes.
Do recall that this Iowa team should have lost to a 1AA team and had problems with Arkansas State. Great they are not.
hates it when I peak prematurely. As soon as RR figures out how to avoid this, I will be all ears...and other things.
But to answer your question with a question, would you?
I though my answer was implied in the question :-) Yes, if he beats Iowa and tosu finishing strong (with a bowl win), I would definitely keep him despite the overall 7-6. In my eyes, such a performance would be a precursor to a breakout 2011 season (double digit wins).
OTOH, if he does the premature peaking again in 2010 and/or loses all the big ones, I would be inclined to at least consider the possibility of replacement even with let's say 8-5 overall.
Interesting though. I try not to get into conversations like, "what will RR have to do to save his job?" because I think it is pointless yet interesting. I'm sure there are expectations set by Brandon that outline success/failure. But if you want to know, here you go:
- Any improvement in the team (record, development, stats), I would bring him back
- Another loss to MSU and it would be tough, but only if the team is around .500. If they go 8-5 overall and lose to MSU/ND/OSU, I think there is enough improvement there to justify year 4. If we go close to 6-6, we better beat one/two of the above mentioned 3 or else he could be in trouble.
- Same record or worse, adios.
Again, not my decision, just my opinion (or e-pinion if you wish). I think it will be all moot when we go 13-0. Go Blue. Go RR. I'm All In.
I have no clout or influence or really even any MGoPoints, but I think the easiest decision for UM is to simply honor the contracted 4 years. With all the bad press and general shenanigans we've seen, pulling the plug early on a contract - assuming simply a mediocre W/L record and no major extenuating circumstances - we'd be in a weakened position anyway to effectively recruit a coach to take RR's place. So, a mediocre record that started hot and ended cold or a mediocre record that started cold but built momentum and scored a key victory are of equal value in determining RR's fate. I think all the hand-wringing about whether 6, 7, or 8 wins are good enough is misplaced in the contract/political environment.
I realize I may be in the minority here, but sports writers and sports fans seem to have a much quicker trigger finger than the folks at UM whom we laud for their steady tiller hand. If true, I'm grateful. If I'm wrong about that, I will be sorely disappointed for a variety of reasons.
"So, a mediocre record that started hot and ended cold or a mediocre record that started cold but built momentum and scored a key victory are of equal value in determining RR's fate. "
Unique perspective but IMO misplaced. :-) A slew of close losses (even to mediocre teams) early on is more than off-set by big late season wins. Are seriously suggesting that in 2009 you would not have preferred exchanging a loss against Indiana or ND for a victory against the Bucks? If that had happened, I bet the Wolverines are ranked pre-season and RR has already pulled legitimate recruits that Tressel wants.
Losses to MSU, and ND will have nearly zero impact if RR wins against the Big-ten cream of crop particularly OSU. If I were RR, I would invest heavily (emotionally at least) in beating the bucks and treat msu/nd (bragging rights be damned) like just another game.