Midseason expectations reset
I never knew crow could be served so many ways, and it tastes delicious! My hope coming into the season was that if everything went right we might go 8-4. I thought 7-5 was more likely, though. The defense is better than I thought it would be. Special teams are FAR better than I thought they would be. The offense is about what I expected.
Harbaugh and the new coaches are putting them in position to be successful, and this team plays really sound football. Low turnovers and penalties, not many blown assignments, and they are playing as a TEAM rather than a group of individuals.
I see 10-2 or 11-1 as the most likely records now. I can't project a win over OSU until I see it happen, and either Penn State or MSU might get us-or we might get both of them. Overall, a really enjoyable team to watch, and it's fun to be on this ride with them.
October 10th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
Yup, exactly. I walked into the season thinking a 9-3 record was a ceiling. Feels much more like the floor now.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
Agree, 9-3 looks like the floor, with an 11-1 ceiling. Though concerned about the possible stacking of injuries at receiver and guard (hope all those guys come out of the bye week ready to roll).
Schedule is tough with Indiana and Maryland being capable of putting a good game together in trap game weeks.
MSU - toss up? Slight favorite? (I can't tell if they are for real)
PSU - slight dog, (decent favorite if their QB is out)
OSU - heavy dog
October 10th, 2021 at 1:12 PM ^
I think MSU is real, unless their RB goes down
but we are real too.... going to be an epic contest
October 10th, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
MSU is definitely for real. Their quarterback is an upgrade, Walker is like heaven sent, and the receivers are pretty good too. Defensively, they are, shall we say, 'chippy'. And everything they are now, well just increase it when they play us. It's a good thing we're a pretty good team this year, it's going to take a pretty good team to beat them. These guys remind me of D'antonio's teams that did so well back in the day.
October 10th, 2021 at 2:20 PM ^
Dantonio teams had a pretty good mid level game on offense. They also had a solid running game that is not a boom or a bust until the end of his career. Their defense was pretty good against really good teams. That is not what this team is. May be they are good but I would not compare them to good Dantonio teams. They are not there. Not sure they will be. Dantonio may be a jerk but heckuva coach.
October 10th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
Put together a team successful as they are to date in two years. . . I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they have a good coach.
We have the more talented squad, and if we play disciplined football my money's on my own team. But it's likely to be a battle.
October 10th, 2021 at 3:54 PM ^
MSU's offense is imposing. But it's different than Dantonio's teams
they're a big play team. They had no business beating Nebraska. That was a one sided statline. A 35 yard touchdown pass and punt return for a touchdown is what beat Nebraska.
This past weekend against Rutgers, all three of their touchdowns were on plays over 60 yards.
Our special teams are elite. They have 2 punts returned for touchdowns this season. Robbins needs to keep them from making any returns.
Their defense is awful. They are last in the big ten in passing defense and 11th overall giving up 420 yards per game.
And Coach Mac's approach with the annoying (albeit effective) bend but don't break he deployed in the first few weeks of the season, I think we win.
October 10th, 2021 at 5:54 PM ^
I don’t think Coach Mac is running the defense he wants to run. I think he is running the team he can run with these players. If he had good corners, I think he would have a lights out defense. Given his corners and the relative inexperience at LB (except for Ross), I think he is maximizing what he can get out of this team.
October 10th, 2021 at 6:20 PM ^
I think the biggest difference in this year’s coaching is that they coach to what the kids can do. They Don bend kids to what they want.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:44 PM ^
A 'heavy dog' to OSU? The brotherhood will have something to say about that...
October 10th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
Harbaugh said he didn’t think any of the injuries guys had would keep them out long term
October 10th, 2021 at 2:54 PM ^
Is there an injury summary somewhere?
October 10th, 2021 at 1:13 PM ^
Same here.
With a bye week to heal up and hopefully no one gets hurt against NW I am optimistic for a one loss season. If we could find a way to contain those NFL caliber WR's in the last game who knows?
October 10th, 2021 at 1:00 PM ^
I did not want to be lambasted for this preseason, because it was perceived as unrealistic (which to be fair, may be), but my goal was to be 10-1 going into OSU, with a competitive loss to them.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
I think I predicted 10-2 preseason. I think anything from 9-3 to 12-0 is realistic. With Clifford out I think 11-1 is most likely.
October 10th, 2021 at 2:11 PM ^
Is there any word on the extent of his injury? Unless it's a season ending type of thing I'd assume he would be back by our game.
October 10th, 2021 at 2:56 PM ^
Seeing the hit. It didn't make much sense. Not concussion, nothing withe the legs.
Could have been a collarbone.. Didnt see anything else that it could be. Besides havign a 200lnb missile tackle you at full speed of course
October 10th, 2021 at 7:48 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing. I’m sure Clifford would tell me differently but from the TV the hit didn’t look that bad. It must’ve been a lot worse than it looked.
If its a broken collarbone, I would imagine he wouldn’t be back by the time they play Michigan, but I’m not a doctor.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
If Penn State has to run with their awful backup QB, we should be 10-2 or 11-1 by season’s end.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
Agreed, I think 10-2 or 11-1 at worse as long as the team keeps it up and keeps improving.
If Clifford isn't healthy enough to play then that game becomes way easier to navigate.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
Nah, some of you need to keep that same 2-4 energy you had from last season.
October 10th, 2021 at 4:29 PM ^
Some of these cats act like we've never won a game before
October 10th, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
We don’t quite feel like a playoff worthy team yet, so I would be quite happy with a NY6 bowl, which is much better than I anticipated before the season.
Beat MSU and anything else is gravy. Would also love a competitive game with OSU to show we really are moving in the right direction.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
we aren't playoff worthy yet... but I think we do have a chance to win the BIG
as always, it will require a win in the GAME. Like many seasons, whoever wins 'the game' will play play Iowa for the BIG
Of course if we win the BIG then we'll be in playoff but they should just let Georgia and Bama play for the national championship right now and save us all the trouble
October 10th, 2021 at 2:23 PM ^
I agree, not playoff ready yet. However, I’m hoping we get in, even if it means getting hamblasted like Notre Dame does. We need to get the “never been to a playoff “ stigma/monkey off our back to help with the mental side and recruiting.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:05 PM ^
Feels like it would require some kind of collapse/unusual number of key injuries to do worse than 9-3. 10-2 is very achievable if we keep playing tough on the road. And we can do better with some luck and continued improvement. All in all, we're in a position almost every team in college football would envy. That's something to savor
October 10th, 2021 at 1:07 PM ^
I had 8-4. Could still happen, but I like how the team looks overall.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
I am still not sold on Cade, but I am dreaming of 11-1, think 9-3 is the floor.... not ready predict anything, just enjoying it!
the best part is that the future seasons look bright with this young new staff!
October 10th, 2021 at 1:10 PM ^
I expected 4 losses this year. I now feel like we could split between MSU/PSU and lose to OSU. So I'm upgrading to 2 losses. Still think 3 is a possibility. IU tends to give us fits and Maryland has a lot of frippery that could have us reliving the 3Q of Nebraska.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
I am not ready to concede a loss to OSU
Preseason I thought for sure we'd lose
We are home in that game and I feel we will bring it.... I am glad OSU is getting national attention again and I am glad they will be heavily favored. Best I've felt about the game since 2016..... the revenge tour had me nervous because our players were talking too much
I think it will be a close battle
October 10th, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^
9-3 is the floor. I think we match up well with MSU. If Sean Clifford is healthy, that is going to be a very hard game to win. And OSU is OSU. I think we win one of those games. I never thought this team would get to 9-3, let alone 10-2. It would be tough to see us fall just short of a Big 10 championship yet again, but nobody expected us to contend going into the season. As long as we don't drop one to Northwestern, IU, or Maryland, this season was a resounding success.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:20 PM ^
pfff. i say 5-7 at best. maybe as bad as 3-9.
really....
October 10th, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^
this sarcasm plays better written in Cyan!
October 10th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
I was figuring 7-5, now 10-2 or 9-3
October 10th, 2021 at 1:27 PM ^
Still a lot of football left this season, but it's fun to go back and read some of the preseason prediction threads after a 6-0 start.
https://www.mgoblog.com/mgoboard/predictions-football-season
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-winloss-record-prediction-thread
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/what-would-it-take-change-your-mind-either-way-about-harbaugh
October 10th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
These threads are interesting, I note very few of us had Iowa State at 3-2!
October 10th, 2021 at 2:19 PM ^
Damn you for making me go back and read my idiotic comments.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:27 PM ^
Northwestern, Indiana, and Maryland should all be wins, barring anything crazy happening.
Michigan State MIGHT be the hardest game left on the schedule. I know OSU is good, but MSU is looking better every week. Top 10 matchup with Michigan is their super bowl, especially with a relatively new coach.
Penn State without Clifford looks pretty mediocre.
Ohio State is still Ohio State. They are more inconsistent this year though. If they bring their A game against Michigan they will probably win. But it seems like there is a 50/50 chance they don’t bring their best.
October 10th, 2021 at 2:09 PM ^
The chances of OSU not bringing their A game against us is roughly on par with the chances of their fanbase using deodorant and clean underwear
October 10th, 2021 at 1:27 PM ^
9-3 feels like the floor at this point, and 11-1 the ceiling. They should beat Maryland, IU and Northwestern fairly easily. OSU, to me, is still a loss until proven otherwise, and MSU and PSU are toss-ups. Both of them are beatable, but that MSU game is going to be a street fight with both teams looking to beat the absolute shit out of each other.
I have no idea how that game is going to go, but one thing certainly going in Michigan‘s favor in that game is that they have been tested in back to back weeks in hostile road environments, and they passed both tests. So they will not be intimidated by going to East Lansing.
If you made me guess, I think they split between MSU and PSU, lose to OSU, and get an NY6 bid somewhere. Hope to god that it’s somehow the Rose Bowl, but that will probably go to Iowa after they lose to OSU in the BTCG.
October 10th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
Curious how this season would look if it's 10-2 with a loss to msu and 20 point loss to OSU?
October 10th, 2021 at 1:29 PM ^
I believe I picked 6-6 to 7-5 with a very outside shot of 8-4. Of the current games already played, I had the Washington game as a tossup and Wisky as a loss.
Even if both of those teams have been pretty bad this year, I’m happy they won both games convincingly.
I still see OSU/PSU as losses, as well as one loss coming from MSU/Indiana/Maryland. But that would mean 9-3, which would be much better than my expectations for this season.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:33 PM ^
For no rational reason, I am expecting them to lose to MSU, but win every other game. And be in B1G championship game. I expect MSU to lose games as I don't think they are that good except for the week against M. PSU falls apart except for inexplicably beating MSU. So, I have them at 11-1. I thought they will win 8 games pre season.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
Any updates on Clifford status?
October 10th, 2021 at 1:37 PM ^
Hopefully out against us, but back for the last game of the season against MSU.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:56 PM ^
Our fellow bloggers and posters will have their eyes peeled to twittersphere so we'll know something when they get some info.
Kudos to those earlier this week that raised red flags about Roman Wilson's wrist injury. That info turned out correct.
News about Clifford's health status will come soon enough.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
I’m just going to work on the assumption that they drop all three of MSU, PSU, and OSU. That way if they win any of those I’ll be super happy about it but it won’t be a surprise or heartbreaking if they lose all of them.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:37 PM ^
I honestly think we match up way better against MSU than Nebraska. We will see! It’s crazy that Harbaugh is 3-3 vs MSU with all 3 wins in East Lansing!? Unless I’m remembering that wrong.
October 10th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
Michigan matches up better in the run game because even though Thorne can move around, he's not much of a threat outside of the occasional scramble when defenders stop paying attention to him. Problem is they have 2.5 competent WRs and are willing to give them chances to win their match ups. Nebraska schemed their RBs/slots into open spots by moving them around, but MSU will just say screw it and bomb it out to Nailor and Reed.
The LBs need to be ready for some frippery and misdirection stuff. Nebraska's biggest plays were really concerning because Michigan didn't have a player within 5 yards of the guy when they caught the ball so it wasn't just a false step here or there, it was complete abandonment of assignments that should be cleaned up some. Can't hate on the LBs for long though, when they can ID plays and go downhill they're fun to watch rip through guys.
Also, regarding the QB run game - Martinez had 38 yards rushing and the TD, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how Macdonald dealt with him. They didn't go cover 0 and blitz all the LBs, leaving giant lanes for Martinez to poke through for big gains. The 3rd down conversion right before their first TD (win that down and Michigan might run away with it last night) they dropped the LBs into zones and almost had him between Ross and I think Moten. Generally speaking they accounted for him and were disciplined enough to keep him from killing them on passing downs with his legs. Thorne can move so I hope they don't turn their backs and assume he won't, but last night was a good indication of how they'll deal with mobile QBs.
October 10th, 2021 at 2:07 PM ^
It’s crazy that Harbaugh is 3-3 vs MSU with all 3 wins in East Lansing!? Unless I’m remembering that wrong.
He's 2-0 in East Lansing and 1-3 (ugh) in Ann Arbor.