Michigan Schedule and Predictions 2009
I know its a little Early and its probably already been done but just curious to see some predictions for the 2009 season.
Michigan Schedule for 2009
Western Michigan 9/5
Notre Dame 9/12
Eastern Michigan 9/19
Indiana 9/26
@ Mich State 10/3
@ Iowa 10/10
BYE 10/17
Penn State 10/24
@ Illinois 10/31
Purdue 11/7
@Wisconsin 11/14
Ohio State 11/21
Its hard to Predict next year with a true freshman quarterback at the helm....but if key players like Forcier with Minor, the O-Line, Graham, Warren etc. staying healthy (im assuming that Forcier develops a bit with his mini-redshirt half-year) and assuming that some how Stevie Brown is not as much of a liability as he was this year.......I would predict
Best Case Senario 9-2 , and Worst Case Senario 5-6
I think that 7-4 is the likely end result.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:21 PM ^
Basement - 6-6
Hope - 8-4
Dream - 10-2
I'm assuming that 12th spot gets filled with an easy opponent.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:23 PM ^
We have a 12th game that has not been scheduled yet, FYI
January 9th, 2009 at 3:26 PM ^
i wondered why it was only 11 games. who are they thinking of adding?
January 9th, 2009 at 3:26 PM ^
is absolutely zero statistical evidence (or other evidence) that suggests S. Brown will be better. I think we go 7-5 and lose to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl. So I guess that makes us 7-6. I also predict that Zoltan picks up 2 first downs on fake punts and 1 of those will be vs. Notre Dame.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:34 PM ^
There is an almost immeasurable amount of statistical evidence that Stevie Brown will be better. The vast majority of players in the history of college football have improved with age and experience.
Of course, a little better than awful could still be pretty damn bad.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
Easy there big guy. I know what statistical means, but thanks for the breakdown. I was merely trying to demonstratively point out that if we are pinning our hopes on him becoming a lot better than we are in trouble. More to your point, if Brown is worse his jr year than he was his soph, and then improves his sr year, but not to the level he was at his soph year, did he really improve? Secondly, if we were talking about players in general then your "immeasurable" amount of statistical evidence theory would apply, but since we are looking at a single player and have a subset of data (3 years of him refusing to take the right angle) to be predictive then we come upon something known as an outlier. Maybe he qualifies as an outlier. I am begging him to prove me wrong, and I hope I am wrong.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:29 PM ^
I actually kinda hope Barwis Killed him.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:38 PM ^
How does that work, Scholarship-wise, when your S&C coach kills a player? and can we sell that to recruits who want early playing time, like "yeah we have a returning starter at Safety right now, but we are pretty sure he's going to die in the weightroom sometime in June. "
January 9th, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^
Okay, that's now like the 4th time I've come across this guy randomly posting a response that made me crack up.
Plus, the image is great, too.
Placentasaurus, you equal cool.
I used to be cool...
January 9th, 2009 at 4:07 PM ^
Plus, who doesn't like placenta?
January 9th, 2009 at 3:45 PM ^
Come on. Not appropriate.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:46 PM ^
I thought it was funny.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^
its not appropriate, but it was the inevitable destiny (redundant?) of all the Stevie Brown sux, hurrr, and Mike Barwis, eeeee jokes. A hilarious scenario where RR and Barwis are watching game film of Stevie Brown getting burned by ND, and RR mutters under his breath "we have to get rid of him." Which Barwis takes quite literally. Later that night he is trying to get to sleep but cannot because he can't decide the best way to "get rid" of Stevie Brown. "I could defeat him in a cage match... no no too obvious. I'd lose my job. I could have my pack of wolves decend from the hills and eat him... no no too messy... and I am the only person in the state w/ registered pet wolves." finally it dawns on him, "YES, I'll simply destroy the poor fool in the weight room. That is my job after all, no one could fault me for that. I'll just explain it away using terms like Pliometrics, and Biometrics and other words that end in metrics that they are unaware of here in Michigan. He'll either transfer... ... or Die." (end scene)
This is funny right? no?
January 9th, 2009 at 3:32 PM ^
After last year, I don't see a lot of these games as gimmes to the point that five or six wins is the worst case. Western is not a gimme, they beat Illinois last year. Unless we do play someone like UConn, that 12th game is likely to be a cupcake, so I'll give us that one, Eastern, Indiana, and Purdue.
The only thing I am confident in is that a Toledo-like occurence won't take place next year. So I think the worst case is 4-8. We'll see how much the team progresses and where the rest of the Big Ten is at, but I would predict somewhere around .500 for next year.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:36 PM ^
Worst case scenarios is more like 4-8...or literally 0-12.
But for me, the basement to keep me from becoming agitated/irrationally upset/worried is 6-6 next year
January 9th, 2009 at 3:39 PM ^
6-6 is the basement to avoid locking myself in the basement for a year.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
Motor City Bowl Bound. 6-6 is realistic. Is it possible we could lose to Western twice in one year? Scary!
January 9th, 2009 at 3:50 PM ^
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl or bust!
January 9th, 2009 at 3:55 PM ^
For proximity purposes, I'm hoping for the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:45 PM ^
Much further for me, but definitely a better location. But I bet the BBQ in Tennessee is, as a southerner once put it, "Tastes so good it'd make a guppie wanna smack a HHHwhale."
January 9th, 2009 at 8:24 PM ^
Motor City bowl for me.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:51 PM ^
If it takes a 6-6 or 7-5 year to get us back on track, then let's do it. I am hoping for a bowl, that's it.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:08 PM ^
I think people are underestimated how much better we will be offensively. Worst case scenario we start a QB with half a year's pratice experience. Best care scenario Threet makes some strides and is at least serviceable. Our line is all back with a year's experience playing together and another year with Barwis. Also, if anyone gets hurt on the line like last year we have 6 redshirt freshmen ready to step in, not converted DTs. Our running game should be a lot better which will open things up a little more. Also, Stonum, Odems, Hemmingway, Clemons all will be experienced players not to mention Matthews holding things down as well.
Our defensive line will be suspect we all know that but our linebacking core will be better and our secondary can't get much worse. Rememeber we lost some close games last year and our defense was on a the field a lot in the 2nd half of games and wore down. I don't think that will happen as much next year and look for us to win some of those games at the end. Also, the Big Ten is down next year with teams like State, Wisconsin, Iowa all losing their stud running backs. Plus ND, Penn State and Ohio State are all at home.
I don't see 9-3, 8-4 being too much of a stretch.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:29 PM ^
I seem to agree.
Per Tom VH's Forcier interview I would have to say he has an incredible drive to succeed and get better. The time from now until the rest of the freshman arrive will be very beneficial to him. an instant upgrade over threet and sheridan last year
Minor Rage healthy and Barwisized....nuff said.
lots of depth at RB.
More depth at WR...Odoms, Stonum and Matthews will all be better...plus Roundtree.
Way better O-line with added just off RS help.
Senior B. Graham
Will Cambell starts...oh and he EE, havin fun with Barwis
Oh and Martin is in there too. Graham and Cambell on the same line=Headache.
the LBs have a bit more experience and a bit more Barwis.
Cissoko and Warren.
boo Steve Brown.
and there are others that could step up.
there is cause for some high expectations.
in Barwis we trust!
January 9th, 2009 at 4:25 PM ^
i think we will be surprisingly improved. i'm praying for 8-4 with losses to WMU, ND, Iowa, and Purdue. yeah we're going to beat tOSU. i'll bet $3 on it
January 9th, 2009 at 5:09 PM ^
My take:
Western Michigan - toss-up
Notre Dame - toss-up
Eastern Michigan - Win
Indiana - Win
@ Mich State - toss-up
@ Iowa - toss-up
BYE - win(!)
Penn State - loss
@ Illinois - loss
Purdue - toss-up
@Wisconsin - toss-up
Ohio State - loss
Mystery 12th team - Win
Absolute worst case scenario - Threet's Exploding Elbow Disease continues, Tate plays like freshman, Minor plays like Beanie Wells (healthy and solid for spurts, but never 100%), WRs keep dropping balls, the secondary continues to let guys ran around, over, and through them, and Yakety Sax plays in my head for another season. 4-8
Realistic scenario - Everyone position is equal or slightly better than last year, especially on offense. O-line protection is solid with all the RS freshman and returning starters. WRs hold onto the ball, and Threet improves his accuracy while Tate learns on the job. MINOR RAGE and ShawShanked are good-to-great and the freshmen fill in the gaps. Turnovers return to normal, and the secondary plays better while Graham dominates along with Martin. LBs play slightly better. Wins against EMU, Indiana, Purdue, and M12. Split with WMU/ND/Ill/MSU/Wis/Iowa, and losses to OSU and PSU. That leaves you with 7-5, and an Insight/MC bowl invite.
Holy Crap! scenario - RR's system clicks on offense and we become WVU-West, but with far more talent. The Threet and Forcier combo leaves UM with an embarassment of riches at QB, and MINOR RAGE pulls a Chris Perry and dominates. At least two WRs make the Leap (like Stonum and Odoms) while Mathews plays like Jason Avant and is the consumate go-to guy. Protection galore, turnover margin swings the other way, and everyone on the defense plays out of his collective mind. 10-1 going into the PSU game (PSU wins a close one), and Pryor's last-gasp heave at the end of a 21-16 game is picked off by Stevie Brown, who then falls to the ground sobbing while angels cry and my head explodes. At-large BCS bid against Ok. St. at the Sugar Bowl.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:55 PM ^
Absolutely the absolute Worst case scenario:
Threet's leg snaps off first snap of the season (due to his awkwardness when being tackled) Tate gets hit with a soul crushing tackle (after exhibiting some promise.) This would then bring in Nick "The walk-on, errr former walk-on err... should not have a scholarship" Sheridan.
We schedule app state as 12th team, and lose again go 0-12, and Michigan Academically falls out of the top 25. Ohio state (or an SEC team) wins the NC.
Voila ... the plane has crashed into the plane that crashed into the mountain.
But that definitely won't happen! That's virtually un-possible.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:15 PM ^
The biggest concerns for Michigan football in 2008 were:
1. - overall poor quarterback production (accuracy, less INTs)
2. - awful 3rd down conversion rate (27%???)
3. - turnovers (fumbles and int's)
4. - poor pass defense
5. - poor run defense.
6. - failure to stop the big play (3rd down conversation rate)
I don't really care who Michigan plays against. The schedule in 2009 looks only marginally easier. I mean, what is the big difference between Minnesota and Indiana?
All Michigan has to do in 2009 is run the football with greater consistency each game, and then reduce items 1 through 6 by some measure, and Michigan could very well finish .500 or above.
Dramatically reduce items 3 and 6 specifically and I would not be surprised to see Michigan finish 9-3-0.
Sometimes all that lies between a 3 win season and a 7 win season is just making fewer mistakes than the other guys.
February 12th, 2009 at 9:49 PM ^
I personally think we will go either 8-4 or more likely 7-5. The key to being that good is winning the first game against Western. If we can get momentum going into Notre Dame, knock them off (at home), then I feel confident looking at 4-0 against MSU. Assuming we win the first four, I think we split against two tough road opponents in MSU and Iowa. After that is Delaware State, who we can't dismiss, but in the end, should beat. After that, Penn State at home is a tough call, but in the end, it's a probable loss. Not even close against a darkhorse Illinois team. Purdue might be the worst team in the Big Ten next year, so we should take care of business. Lastly, Wisconsin and OSU is probably a split. I can see us beating Wisconsin in Madison, or catching OSU, but not sneaking up on both.