Michigan will be _ - _ in FB next year

Submitted by 1464 on

 

Saturday
08/31/13
Chippewas Central Michigan Chippewas
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
09/07/13
Fighting Irish Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
Primetime
ABC or ESPN
Buy
Tickets
Saturday
09/14/13
Zips Akron Zips
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
09/21/13
Huskies at Connecticut Huskies
Rentschler Field, East Hartford, CT
TBA ---
Saturday
09/28/13
--- Open Date --- ---
Saturday
10/05/13
Gophers Minnesota Golden Gophers
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
10/12/13
Nittany Lions at Penn State Nittany Lions
Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
10/19/13
Hoosiers Indiana Hoosiers
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
10/26/13
--- Open Date --- ---
Saturday
11/02/13
Spartans at Michigan State Spartans
Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
TBA Buy
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Saturday
11/09/13
Cornhuskers Nebraska Cornhuskers
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
11/16/13
Wildcats at Northwestern Wildcats
Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
11/23/13
Hawkeyes at Iowa Hawkeyes
Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
11/30/13
Buckeyes Ohio State Buckeyes
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
TBA Buy
Tickets
Saturday
12/07/13

Big Ten

Big Ten Championship Game
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
TBA ---

(stolen from http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-13/big-ten/2013-michigan-wolverines-football-schedule.php )

 

College football is unofficially officially over, especially on this site.  Let me be the first of many posters to make this thread.  What are your way too early predictions for next year? This year went as many posters predicted.  We had a better football team but a lesser record. 

I would really like to establish a QB with an arm.  I loved Denard, but seeing him tear it up at RB opened my eyes to the fact that he still would have been Denard at any position.  He should have been on the field for the final kickoff return of the game as well.  Hell, maybe he shoulda been out there for all of them.

I think that next year will be a good year for the Wolverines.  I still think that 2015-2016 is when we are reaping the fruits of this recruiting, so I cannot call us world beaters next year, but we should be the front runner to get to the BTCG.  Kinnick is a hard place to play, but Iowa is a tire fire.  Sparty gon' Spart.  We are likely looking at Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio as defining our season.  We CAN win all those games.  We should win at least one of them.  I think that if we get a lot luck, we can go 13-0, as there are no huge threats on our schedule.  I see that 13-0 as being the same as ND or OSU this year.  Those were very soft unbeaten schedules (one of them will be cut short in a few days).  I can also reasonably see us losing 3 games, at 9-3.  So that is my likely range, and going off the schedule, the conference, the recruiting, and the players coming back, I don't see that as being overly optimistic.

Mr. Yost

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:50 PM ^

Many people like myself pointed to 2013 as THE YEAR things would turn for Michigan Football like it has this year for Michigan Basketball.

The schedule is the biggest part...our schedule was BRUTAL this year.

Next season, I seriously see us being undefeated going into the Ohio game. I think they're the better team, but we'll be at home and Hoke has never lost at home. I think we win, barely...like Keith Stone with no time barely.

With that said, I could see a rematch (dumber than dumb) in Indianapolis the next week.

If we lose at home to Ohio in the finale, I'm going to say we turn around and beat them in the B1G Championship game.

Nonetheless, I see us 12-1 or 13-0. That will be good enough for a National Championship game apperance or a Rose Bowl Game.

The outcome of that game will depend on the matchup...unfortunately I don't really like our odds.

So I'm going to say 12-2 or 13-1 with a National Champtionship or Rose Bowl loss.

1464

January 2nd, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^

You're likely basing that off of the offense, since the defense should be marginally better next year.  Would getting Green help change your mind?  I'd think a loss is more likely at NW than PSU.  Man, I just cannot see 5 losses.  I saw 4-5 losses this year, just not next year.

His Dudeness

January 2nd, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^

Getting Green can't hurt, but I don't see how we move the football next season. DG is a converted WR who throws some awful jump balls and next year those will be going to Gallon and... Gallon. People should stack the box against us and make us throw. Our offensive weapons next year are looking pretty weak. I like Funchess, but it seems like DG just doesn't target him often.

snarling wolverine

January 2nd, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^

Gardner is a QB.  Calling him a "converted WR" is misleading.  Yes, he played there the first half of the season, but he's a natural QB.  In five games as a QB, the guy completed just under 60% of his passes, with 11 TDs and 5 INTs, despite not even playing or practicing at QB the first half of the season.  That tells you how much talent he has.  Give DG a whole offseason to get his timing/footwork down and I bet he'll do very, very well.

Also - you're predicting us to lose three home games.  Hoke is 14-0 at home.  Until proven otherwise, I wouldn't bet against him at the Big House.

WolvinLA2

January 2nd, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^

But DG moved the ball pretty well against South Carolina, and their D is better than probably anyone we'll see in the Big Ten next year. In our passing game, we lose only Roundtree whose production can be easily replaced.

And the crazy thing, you talk about us not being able to move the ball, yet you think we'll lose to Penn State and MSU? You think they'll be able to do it any better?

TheBigAC

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:28 PM ^

Yes we did alright on offense against USC, but to me we had a serious dropoff when Denard wasn't on the field. He was our only consistent running threat and even when he didnt get the ball he kept at least 1 or 2 defenders distracted by his presense alone. 

Without Denard next year, no proven RB coming back (unsure of how the injury will affect Fitz), an O line that should be slightly worse or about equal to this years, and no impact skill players coming in I could definitely see a big struggle on O next season. 

CitizenKane

January 2nd, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^

We have another DG coming in, and he goes by the name of Derrick Green. He WILL be here, and  him and Toussaint WILL carry this team in the run game. Plus I likely the way Gallon has progressed and with DG#1 at QB and improving...WERE GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

1464

January 2nd, 2013 at 2:53 PM ^

I've noticed that he doesn't like to target Funchess as of now, which is baffling, since Gardner has the size to throw over the line.  I wonder if Borges has them work on their chemistry this offseason, as that would be a huge tool for the offense.  Losing Roundtree hurts, but that should be mitigated (I hope) by guys like Darboh stepping up.

I loved Toussaint two years ago, but this year he just seemed to be missing.  Green would be a better option in my opinion, but luckily for us, we have a few younger options.  I have a feeling that someone will step up and become our back out of this crop.  I'm still hoping that is Green.  Our OL should be better as a whole, but worse at LT.  That entire group will continue to trend upwards for the next few years.  Unless DG gets his redshirt, though, we will see a half step backwards with a young QB.

I think that next year's team will be slightly better than this year's squad, and will have an exponentially easier schedule.  I know I am a broken record here, but I cannot see five losses.

jmblue

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^

I am not worried about the passing game.  Gardner was up and down yesterday, but still, he played better against USC's defense than almost any other QB they faced.  They were a very tough team to move the ball against this year.   Also, Gallon's ability to get open against them was a revelation - that was not a bad secondary he faced, but they couldn't handle him.  He looks like he's ready to be a superstar wideout.  He may be short, but he's extremely quick and has great body control - he knows how to catch the ball at the height of his jump and to shield defenders from ball.  That's a hard thing to teach.

Gallon and Funchess give us two guys that will be a load for opposing defenses to handle.  Darboh, Chesson et al. should benefit from all the attention those two will command.

 

Needs

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^

This. The skill positions will be fine. The passing game will be good to great, depending on the emergence of Chesson and Darboh. Devin's late season was incredibly impressive, given that he was thrown in as starting QB without even a bye week to prepare.

Next year's big questions on offense are how well and how quickly the new offensive line meshes. On the one hand, it'll have four new starters. On the other, Schofield may be better suited to LT than RT (as he seems like a better pass blocker than run blocker), the interior of the line can't be too much worse than it was this year, and we'll be plugging in players who were recruited by this coaching staff to run the type of system they want to run (likely a big reason for Omameh's and Barnum's struggles).

swdodgimus

January 2nd, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^

But if any of the line can effectively play center.  Jack Miller and Graham Glasgow were the back ups this year, so we'll see if they're ready.  However, Molk was never effectively replaced by Mealer, who was fine (definitely not stellar).  I agree the skill positions will be fine, maybe even more than fine, and the guard play should improve as the year goes forward with big guys like Kalis, Bryant, and Braden, but the biggest need is better center play.  

MI Expat NY

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:31 PM ^

USC is a good defense, but not a great defense.  Tyler Bray shredded them.  Tyler Wilson had a good day against them, and Gardner's day wasn't all that different than Boyd's or Mettenberger's.  I agree with you on how underrated Gallon is, but other than that, I'm not sure there's a lot of positives to be taken out of our passing performance against USC.  

Needs

January 2nd, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^

Devin's first interception yesterday was such an arm punt that Tirico explicitly compared it to a punt. And he missed Gallon at least once when he was running free behind the defense. 

He'll likely be more accurate than Denard was this year. He's not going to be Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. And he's still going to make some dumb decisions. Such is the nature of the college QB.

I give it until his second INT next year until the fans who booed Brady and Navarre and Henne and Denard are calling for Shane Morris to come in.

swdodgimus

January 2nd, 2013 at 6:35 PM ^

and Bill O'Brien did well.  They actually don't lose much on offense outside McGloin (who is surely replaceable).  The return a 1,000 yard receiver, two good backs, and 3/5 of their line.  Defense loses a lot (Mauti, Hill, Hodges), but they've recruited well enough in the past to suggest their defense won't be awful (when's the last time Penn State had a bad defense).  Years 3 and 4 are where you start to see the attrition affect things, but O'Brien is a good enough coach to hold together a respectable team.  

WolvinLA2

January 2nd, 2013 at 9:01 PM ^

They have not recruited all that well.  They'll have almost no talent in their freshmen and sophomore classes next fall, so depth will be incredibly thin.  Replacing all that talent on D will be very tough, especially for a team that already over achieved greatly. 

And although McGloin isn't an All American, he will be tough to replace.  At the very least, they'll be starting a QB with almost no in-game experience.  That's not a great situation.

unWavering

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^

A great WR corps next season based on what?  Certainly not this season.  And who will be throwing it to them? 

They lose Bell (probably) and Sims, and their offense could be even worse next year if you can imagine that.

Our offense will be better next year with Gardner at QB and the OL shouldn't take much of a step back since replacing Omameh, Mealer, and Barnum shouldn't be too hard.  Our RS freshman can probably run block better than they can right now anyway.  If they gel, they could be good.  

snarling wolverine

January 2nd, 2013 at 3:17 PM ^

Why will we "certainly" not be able to score against them next season?  They lose some key guys defensively, and we'll be playing a QB better suited to attack their secondary (which, while not bad, was still probably their weakest link).  They've shown for a couple of years now that they don't get beaten by run-first QBs like Denard.  Downfield passing has been the most successful way to move the ball on them.

 

switch26

January 2nd, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^

I agree..  Devin can throw the ball downfield..  Denard couldn't..  Denard also missed a wide open gallon in the endzone and missed several other easy chances to score against MSU this year..  We should of won comfortably, instead it was a nailbiter..

I don't see MSU improving so drastically, and even if their pass game imrpoves Bell is basically gone..  So how will they run?  Nick hill? lol..

EGD

January 3rd, 2013 at 1:40 AM ^

Burbridge is good.  Fowler is okay.  And maybe DeAnthony Arnett will show up.

But I'm still not worried about MSU next season.  UM's defense will be better, and State loses Max Bullough and both their corners.  Narduzzi would be smart to cash out now too.