October 13th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
Ask me again at halftime
October 13th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
I will say that for all the volumes of data that gets thrown into Minitab, SPSS and a couple engineering programs around here, we still have a 8 Ball sitting on one of the conference tables in this building. Sometimes, it simply doesn't hurt to ask even if you've just been given the answer at a 95% level of significance.
October 13th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
p = .051
AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHHH
October 13th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^
You need to be practicing your snark.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:19 PM ^
So we'll see Saturday.
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October 13th, 2015 at 2:20 PM ^
This is my personal opinion, but I think Gedeon is better. He makes every special teams tackle and has been good on D when called upon.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
I like Gedeon, good player, but he's an ILB, and hasn't played much if at all at SAM, which has some quite different responsibilities in this defense.
MSU fans said the same about Frey (freak on special teams) and his transistion to defense, and it didn't materialize. Being a great special teams player is great, it can give you a hint at a guys mentality, but it doesn't really tell you about their ability to play a specific position with specific technique and responsibilities.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if Michigan moved Gedeon into the MIKE position and slid Morgan out to SAM when they go 4-3, though Morgan lost the edge a few times against Northwestern, they at least gave him that responsibility a few times (meaning they trust him to handle it). Gant is a pretty big unknown.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
Not to mention your personnel opinion.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^
Defending the power rushing attack starts with the D-Line...I think our LB's will look just fine behind our guys up front.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
Ross is Michigan's best LB at facing the run in space, meaning he takes on blocks and sets the edge really well, and also plays the run/pass conflict at that spot well.
I think MSU is going to try to really attack the edges in this game. I thought RJS played well against Northwestern, but Northwestern isn't really a powerful rushing attack, they like to let the defense make mistakes and then seal them, not displace them. MSU wants to displace people, and Mario was better at holding down the edge in that regard (which makes sense, he was a DE while RJS was an ILB much of his career). Now you combine it with losing the guy responsible for holding the edge on the opposite side, and it's no small thing.
Add to that that MSU has personnel to go heavy and has a couple guys that they like to play in the slot, I'm not sure Michigan can roll out the nickel package for the whole game. So I don't think it's insignificant at all, and in fact, it concerns me a bit in the first half. If MSU gains some confidence, that could go a long way for them, even if Ross comes back in the 2nd half and Michigan is where they've left off, that little bit of confidence can really help. It's probably not significant in that it's the difference in dozens of points, but in a game that very well could be low scoring or rely on field position or quick change situations (turnovers), it may be the inches that could come back to bite Michigan.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
p < 0.10
Which is to say, significant, but not that significant.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
Ace is checking out how often MSU goes 3-wide (ie how many plays Michigan would be in their 4-3/Ross personnel) when he does the FFFF viewing.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^
They roll out 3-WRs more times than not, but with Price likely back, there is a good chance that they stick some more TEs in there to help in protection and blocking up front, especially with so many injuries to the OTs, and losing Ross would just add to that likelihood.
11 personnel is probably just over 12 personnel, and then there is probably a small gap to 21 personnel, and then the rest. Lyles has struggled this season after having a really good spring and Lang is a good blocker that can catch some intermediate stuff (he's basically what AJ Williams is this year), so that has forced them to more 3-WR formations.
I personally don't think they use Pendleton (their FB) enough. He's a good player.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:33 PM ^
I don't think it is that significant. We have depth. Jenkins-Stone was good enough last week and will be fine for the first half. At least Ross isn't out for the entire game. I'd rather he miss the first half than second.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
RJS is a BUCK, Ross is a SAM. They typically align on opposite sides of the ball.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
We're going to play what we've played all year...Ross wasn't going to change that.
We just will play Peppers in the box more as he plays that OLB spot by formation against power and spread teams.
MSU just means Pep is going to have to hold the edge and be ready to hit...but it doesn't really mean much for Ross if everyone is healthy.
I have all the confidence in the world that Gedeon can contribute at a high level for Ross' first half snaps. He'd start on most team in the B1G (as would Ross).
October 13th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
I'd say it's Biggs. Very Biggs.
Thanks folks, here all week...
October 13th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
Ross hasn't been getting as much run as I would like because of the nickel/dime packages but he flashes off the screen when he is in the game. Someone else has to step up.
October 13th, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
Slide Peppers into the box, Clark to the slot.
October 13th, 2015 at 3:33 PM ^
Um, yeah, not a good idea.
October 13th, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^
Not that I agree with it but.... its a Jabrill vs OL.
October 13th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^
I don't think it's going to be a huge loss. Granted, I don't know nearly as much about personnel and positioning as some people here do, but I still have an opinion, regardless of how incorrect it is.
Ross mainly plays in 3 WR sets as has been said multiple times already. His replacement on the depth chart is Allen Gant, who is a complete question mark. However, Gant came in as a safety, so I like to think he would at leats be able to hold his own and play decent in the passing game.
When they run out of 3 WR sets is where I think we will really see the effect of no Ross. However, their OL is beat up, we have an incredible DL, and MSU couldn't run for shit, especially up the middle, against Rutgers. This makes me think that with or without Ross, we should be able to stop their run game.
And honestly, I don't know how much we see Gant to begin with. I wouldn't be surprised to see Peppers play a lot of the snaps in Ross's place. We've thrown out 4 different safeties this year, Peppers/Thomas/Wilson/Hill, and all of gotten a lot of snaps and seem to have the staff's trust. Peppers is athletic enough that he could slide down to SAM for a half when MSU goes 3 wide, and we would still have a very stout secondary.
So is it ideal? Not at all. But if get gashed on D, I would be very surprised if it;s because Ross wasn't in there.
October 13th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
He has been playing very fast and covering well. Bright side, he shouldn't be tired in the second half.