maybaum

September 28th, 2015 at 10:51 PM ^

"I don’t think they are one of the two best teams in the Big Ten East, but I won’t be surprised in the least if they go 1-1 against Michigan State and Ohio State."

alum96

September 28th, 2015 at 10:53 PM ^

It also means that Michigan has the best defense in the state right now. They have the defense that everybody else thinks Michigan State has. MSU’s lowest yardage total allowed this season is 340 yards, which is three more yards than the highest total that the Wolverines have allowed.

Image result for nice meme south park

SHub'68

September 29th, 2015 at 10:48 PM ^

about not getting respect is not conducive to gaining respect. It is whiny. The first couple years, OK. But if they're still at it when they are ranked #2 in the country, it has not just worn thin, it has worn completely through.
They need to own #2 and STFU.
The fact is, a case could be made that they are ranked 2 based entirely on respect. Since their signature win is looking suspiciously like a forgery...

AFWolverine

September 28th, 2015 at 11:01 PM ^

My usual sense that they know they're better is showing cracks. I feel like this week's MM was written with a concerned mind. I think it took so long to post because he re-wrote it several times trying to avoid inserting gloom into his writeup. That aside, it was a great post as usual.

evenyoubrutus

September 29th, 2015 at 7:09 AM ^

I have seen several message boards and now this article seems to have a similar tone that is trying to find comfort in the fact that Michigan did not score in the 2nd half. It reminds me so much if myself just a few years ago.

LSAClassOf2000

September 28th, 2015 at 11:02 PM ^

I don’t think they are one of the two best teams in the Big Ten East, but I won’t be surprised in the least if they go 1-1 against Michigan State and Ohio State. I still think the offense is very faulty and the defense has individual weaknesses that are hidden behind a remarkable collective strength.

With regards to that first sentence, I would say that like many here, I was a little cautious about my projections for rivals at the beginning of the season. Indeed, I wasn't sure in the days before the Utah game that we would win either of those games, but having seen this team improve each week, even with conference play of any kind not yet in the books, I would not be shocked either if we split those games. My lean right now - based on current performance is that Michigan State might be the more vulnerable team. 

Michigan Eaglet

September 28th, 2015 at 11:14 PM ^

Between the two, MSU has definitely shown to be the more vulnerable of the two. I think we match up better against them too, but we'll still need a consistent Rudock to lead the charge. As long as he can manage the game, we will have a chance to win. Just get better every day and this season has the chance to be something special.

johnvand

September 29th, 2015 at 6:40 AM ^

I think you're right that MSU is more vulnerable, but I think the timing will be right for an OSU win.  OSU comes here 7 days after MSU goes to Columbus.  If that ends up being a 1 v 2 game.... Getting OSU coming off that game plus being at our best by the end of the season (hopefully).  I'll take those odds.

UMForLife

September 28th, 2015 at 11:25 PM ^

Last week, it was BYU game would tell us if we are good. We demolished them and here we are trying to justify how we need to prove in the next three weeks to feel like we can beat MSU and OSU. By the time we all feel confident the season will be over and we get to worry about all the seniors leaving and the new QB.

Life of a M fan, after the last 7 years, I guess.

Go Blue! Show us every week how we need another week to show if we are good.
/s

BlueinLansing

September 28th, 2015 at 11:37 PM ^

most of us believe OSU and MSU are at a higher level than BYU.  Wouldn't surprise me to see BYU with 5 or 6 losses.  (Utah State gave Utah as much of a game as we did, play at Missouri)

 

I think we've established we're probably better than most of our schedule except MSU and OSU.  No biggie really.

WichitanWolverine

September 28th, 2015 at 11:46 PM ^

6 losses? They beat Nebraska on the road, beat a fringe-top-25 Boise Team, and lost to #10 UCLA by 1 in the Rose Bowl. I do not see 6 losses in their future.

And we were up 31-0 at half before shutting the game down. We're not saying MSU and OSU aren't better than BYU, but we obliterated what I think will be a decent team at the end of the year.

BlueinLansing

September 29th, 2015 at 12:29 AM ^

Cincinnati is good enough to beat BYU on a good day.

at Missouri is BYU's toughest remaining game

Fresno State is another high powered offense, wouldn't surprise me at all if gave BYU fits and even beat them

Utah State lost to Utah by 7 and looked a hell of a lot better against them than we did or BYU did against us.

 

So no, 6 losses is not implausable, likely? probably not but its still out there, just like its possible Michigan drop 3 or 4 games.

UMForLife

September 29th, 2015 at 7:30 AM ^

Based on what we have seen so far, BYU is a way better team what you are giving them credit for. May be we are just that good. Combined with an exhausting schedule for BYU. I am just saying let us not assume that our opponents are bad because we played against them well. We are more than willing to cut some slack to MSU and OSU, after their mediocre performance in the first 4 games. But we are relentlessly nitpicking why M may not be that good, relatively speaking. Look what UTAH did and nobody gave them credit for beating M, until the fourth game.

UM Fan from Sydney

September 29th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^

They do have, I believe, four games in a row at home, which is well deserved considering three of their first four were on the road in tough environments.

Join a conference, BYU, if you want to avoid that kind of schedule.




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Hail Harbo

September 29th, 2015 at 12:50 AM ^

That's how it was in 1997.  It wasn't until November and the beat down in Happey Valley that Michigan fans started believing their, our, team deserved to be ranked in the top five.  Mind you, that was after beating ND and after The Catch in East Lansing, and still Michigan fans refused to believe in their team.  

They, we, can't be blamed.  After all ND did go Oh for the Big Ten, and Colorado in '97 was but a shell of Colorado vintage '94.  MSU was, as always, a good rivalry game that was to be won, as usual, by Michigan.  So after a ho hum win over Minnesota to open the month of November it was still an open question as to whether or not Michigan would prevail against the Nit Lions, a team they had been losing to since '94.  Besides, as good as Michigan's D had been playing they still had a young offensive line and a walk-on 5th year QB with a noodle arm. 

Sounding familiar?

CoverZero

September 29th, 2015 at 4:24 AM ^

I believed in them as soon as I saw how the defense played vs. Colorado.  It was total destruction, by a fast and physical D.  Others felt the same way.  PSU was like finally having sex with the hot girl that you have been dating for a month.

Hannibal.

September 29th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^

PSU was more like finding out that you have a secret admirer and it's the hottest girl in the class and she wants to have sex with you immediately.  And you also have another secret admirer and she is the second hottest girl in the class.  And they are okay with a threesome. 

M-Dog

September 29th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^

I was there.  We were guilty . . . of being awesome.

After that game (we were ranked #1 after it) we were all eyeing an undefeated season, and not in the way that every CFB fan thinks they will go undefeated at the beginning of the year, but in a way where we truly believed for the first time that we could do it.

SHub'68

September 29th, 2015 at 11:16 PM ^

Those days were when we expected to win most games and knew we had a chance to in ALL of them. I remember seeing Penn St. being one we had a chance to win. Then when the D destroyed them, I figured I was going to get to see my first National title for Michigan football. It just seemed a foregone conclusion after that.

Yo_Blue

September 29th, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^

"QB with a noodle arm"???  Really?  Griese started 83 NFL games and completed 62.7% of his passes for over 19,000 yards.  He was selected All-Pro with the Broncos in 2000.  He has a Super Bowl ring AND a National Championship ring.

It's hard to take the rest of your points seriously when you miss your closing statement so badly.

jmblue

September 29th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^

Griese frankly wasn't very good when he started as a sophomore.  The '95 team could have been a national title contender with better quarterbacking - it had everything else.  

But he had a very, very good senior year.

 

Inuyesta

September 29th, 2015 at 1:26 AM ^

I would have written more here, but there’s nothing to write. How do you review a movie where no struggle occurs and everybody goes home happy?

 

I recommend scrolling through the Rotten Tomatoes page for Chef (2014) to see how this is done.

JeffMashburn

September 29th, 2015 at 3:19 AM ^

It will not surprise me to see a surge in improvement simply from players believing they have an opportunity to have a major impact on the 2015 season. Combine that with improved coaching — because how could it be worse — and I would expect a much better product on the field next year.

CoverZero

September 29th, 2015 at 4:22 AM ^

I enjoy some of the analogies that Tony uses, such as the minor store, which is pretty creative.  His analysis is usually fairly good.

But he is Pure Buckeye...if he thinks that Michigan is not one of the top 2 teams in the division.

Exactly what does MSU have that makes people think they are so good?  They are not.  This ranking is based on previous years.  Their defense is like an old sponge used to clean the kitchen sink...works but not particularly effective on tough stains.   Harbaugh is one freakin tough stain to deal with.  Oregon should have beaten them, had they made that one catch in the end zone late in the game.

MSU does not have nearly the overall talent that Michigan has.  Other than Cook, Allen and Burbridge on offense...there is not one guy who Id rather have starting on Michigan's offense.

MSU is a 3-4 loss team waiting to happen.  I do not know whay others refuse to see this.

In the end, it will be Michigan vs. OSU for the division title...just like old times.

Njia

September 29th, 2015 at 6:46 AM ^

Just don't be too much of a slappy. MSU hasn't really been tested except during the Oregon game. It may be that they are playing down to the competition. The whole "transitive property" theory of college football fan make us look pretty stupid if MSU comes into the Big House and kicks our ass.

I'm with you. I would just prefer that we take a lesson from the TN-FL game this past week and gloat after the game has been won is all.

flashOverride

September 29th, 2015 at 7:31 AM ^

I don't really think MSU is playing down to their competition (I would think being perpetually "disrespected" would ensure that never happens), I think they are experiencing legit obstacles resulting from lack of playmakers in both backfields, and, other than Burbridge, at receiver as well. However, they're still elite along both lines, which is what enables one team to impose their will on another, and they're likely to have the better QB in nearly all of their remaining games, which makes them more likely than the other team to get the one or two plays that win a close game. I think they're currently overrated at #2 and "Cook as Heisman candidate" thus far looks like a joke, but they're still damn good and deserve to be considered "in the mix".

OSU, to me, is a lot harder to get a bead on. The expectation, of course, is that they will look like a playoff team come late November and it will be up to Michigan to deny them.