M Falls One Spot in AP Poll

Submitted by marlon on

Not sure how this happened.  Michigan fell one spot this week, from 17 to 18.  Meanwhile, Notre Dame leapt from 20 to 11.  This doesn't quite add up to me, but I suppose applying logic to this poll will only result in frustration.

Edit to add link: http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings/_/week/4

MGoBoard

BiSB

September 16th, 2012 at 9:39 PM ^

Where I can live out my days.

First kid is on the way, and my work demands are picking up. Plus, I'm growing pretty weary of dealing with... yeah. So, bottom line, I've let Brian know I'm taking a step back soon.

Joined: 08/15/2009

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maizeonblueaction

September 16th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^

how the rest of our schedule will break pretty favorably for us, actually. By now, ND is ranked highly enough that beating them (which is still highly possible) makes us look good, MSU and Nebraska have enough time to recover their rankings that it will look good if we beat them, but they are clearly not invincible, and Northwestern might even be ranked by the time we play them. So, if things go our way, we might have a top 10 ranking again by the end of the year.

Joined: 12/19/2011

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mgowill

September 16th, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^

2011 - 102 Carries for 680 Yards, 6.7 YPC

2012 - 103 Carries for 577 Yards, 5.6 YPC

 

Western Michigan 26 190
Notre Dame 26 114
EMU 50 376
TOTAL 102 680

 

Alabama 29 69
Air Force 31 214
Umass 43 294
TOTAL 103 577

The predominant theme here is that last year we didn't play Alabama at the beginning of the year last year.

Joined: 08/31/2011

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EGD

September 16th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^

I might actually change up your comparisons a bit: '12 Bama > '11 ND, '12 UMass = '11 EMU, and '12 AFA = '11 WMU (with AFA being run-based and WMU being pass-based).

I think you make a very strong point about how last year's team started off very shaky but improved greatly over the course of the season.  But I think you are crazy if you are suggesting that Devin Gardner is a step up at WR from Junior Hemingway.  

Joined: 09/16/2009

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PurpleStuff

September 16th, 2012 at 1:52 PM ^

For some reason I think our collective subconscious gave Junior credit for every catch against ND and for whatever reason people wanted to embrace him as a superstar difference maker for last year's team.  He also had a great bowl game and we all tend to remember the last thing we saw.

During the regular season last year he caught 2.66 balls per game for an average of 19.9 ypc and 53 ypg.  He caught 2 TDs in 12 games. 

This year so far Devin Garnder has caught 2.66 balls per game for an average of 19.4 ypc and 51.7 ypg.  He's caught 3 TDs already. 

Hemingway did that as a 5th year senior who had put up near identical numbers the year before.  Gardner has done it playing WR for the very first time in his life.  Throw in an improved Jeremy Gallon, the emergence of Funchess (already more than half our TE output from a year ago in 2 games), and remember that the career leader among active B1G receivers is still on the team and this is a much improved passing game.

Joined: 04/21/2009

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EGD

September 16th, 2012 at 2:33 PM ^

Hmm.  Well, I guess you're right.  Junior had a lot of big catches in 2011.  I guess I don't see any reason DG can't do the same.  

Admittedly, I don't know enough about the nuances of WR play to really appreciate the differences between Hemingway and Gardner. 

Joined: 09/16/2009

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coastal blue

September 16th, 2012 at 2:52 PM ^

I think its partly fear of the unknown. Last year, even if we weren't playing that well, you figured that eventually a guy like Martin or Van Bergen was too good to allow the line play to continue on so poorly, because they'd proven in the past to be quality players. Whereas this year, the line is filled with question marks who have only shown brief flashes of their high recruiting rank (Campbell, Roh, Black). 

Joined: 11/13/2010

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mgowill

September 16th, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^

Also could be the hangover effect of a few seasons of regression prior to 2011.  We watched our teams perform worse as the year went on and couldn't keep up with teams that naturally progressed.  2011 saw us get better as the year moved on.  Do I think we will win the rest of our games?  No.  Do I think we can be very competitive in all of them?  Yes.

Joined: 08/31/2011

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mgoDave

September 16th, 2012 at 6:24 PM ^

Thanks for bringing up some of those numbers and drawing that comparison.  I did not realize that similarity.  I am still worried about our defensive line but that is all based on just watching real time.  I guess it also speaks to how well our coaches did throughout the season last year. There is still plenty of time and I hope our three DLine coaches can work some magic.  Of course like many people I beleived that during this season we would have a better team with a worse record than last year and unfortunately that is still likely the case.

Joined: 10/15/2011

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MichiganMan2424

September 16th, 2012 at 12:24 PM ^

I'm fine with it. Florida, ND, and Stanford should have all jumped us with their wins. Meanwhile only Va Tech and MSU should have fallen behind us with their losses. 3 go ahead of us, 2 fall behind, means we fall one. Makes perfect sense to me.

Joined: 03/09/2011

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M Vader

September 16th, 2012 at 12:26 PM ^

jumped us because of beating top ten teams, meanwhile we passed MSU and VT.  However, USC didn't fall below us beacuse they were ranked so high.  It actually makes sense when you look at where these teams came from.

Joined: 06/28/2011

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coastal blue

September 16th, 2012 at 3:02 PM ^

That Willingham covers slays me. 

Willingham's "amazing" first season consisted of their insanely lucky victory over us, another fortunate win against MSU in which the two pairs of defenders collided with each other instead of making a tackle one Notre Dame's game-winning play, a home loss to a 3-4 conference record Boston College and two season ending blow outs to USC (44-13) and NC State (28-6). 

Its only amazing that they didn't finish 7-5. 

Joined: 11/13/2010

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JHendo

September 16th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^

Let's take off the the maize n' blue goggles for a sec.  Do you honestly believe for one second that if our Wolverines stepped on the field right now with USC, we would win?  If you do, well then you still didn't take off those goggles.  I know football rankings don't really have any common sense logic to them early in the season, but for many logical reasons, it makes perfect sense for USC to be ranked ahead of us.

Joined: 10/25/2008

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Perkis-Size Me

September 16th, 2012 at 12:33 PM ^

I'd rank Northwestern over Nebraska. Nebraska lost to UCLA and has beaten up on two non-BCS teams. Northwestern has beaten 3 BCS teams. I think they've earned a sliver of trust at this point.

Joined: 11/30/2011

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